ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines that reflects upon a single issue or idea. It usually takes a turn, called a “volta, ” about 8 lines in, and then resolves the issue by the end. Shakespearean sonnets use iambic pentameter and an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme, but don’t worry too much about all that.

Detailed explanation-3: –The Spenserian sonnet is a 14-line poem developed by Edmund Spenser in his Amoretti, that varies the English form by interlocking the three quatrains (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE).

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -In the Shakespearean or English sonnet, each line is 10 syllables long written in iambic pentameter. The structure can be divided into three quatrains (four-line stanzas) plus a final rhyming couplet (two-line stanza). The Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.