ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The Petrarchan sonnet, perfected by the Italian poet Petrarch, divides the 14 lines into two sections: an eight-line stanza (octave) rhyming ABBAABBA, and a six-line stanza (sestet) rhyming CDCDCD or CDECDE.

Detailed explanation-2: -A sonnet is a poem with fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg) and specific structure. Each line contains ten syllables, and is written in iambic pentameter in which a pattern of a non-emphasized syllable followed by an emphasized syllable is repeated five times.

Detailed explanation-3: -A sonnet is a formal poem with a fixed structure. It is 14 lines long and each line contains 10 syllables. Sonnet lines are in iambic pentameter which means the line has 10 syllables in 5 pairs. In each of these pairs the emphasis is on the second syllable like a heartbeat.

Detailed explanation-4: -A sonnet is composed of three 4-line stanzas (in the ABAB rhyme scheme), followed by a couplet, which is in the AA rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of the entire sonnet would look like this: ‘ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.