How to Write a Sonnet

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  • Whether you wish to learn the traditional art form of sonnet writing, or you simply want to learn the rules in order to break them, the sonnet is a worthy adversary for any poet to sink his or her mind into. How to Write a Sonnet will walk you through both traditional sonnet forms from the first line to the last.

  • Whether you wish to learn the traditional art form of sonnet writing, or you simply want to learn the rules in order to break them, the sonnet is a worthy adversary for any poet to sink his or her mind into. How to Write a Sonnet will walk you through both traditional sonnet forms from the first line to the last.

  • Introduction

    • Petrarch perfected the Italian sonnet. (Creative Commons photo by Mike Licht)
    • Sonnet writing is an art-form that, once perfected, can inspire a sense of great joy and accomplishment in a poet. While many poets today choose to write abstract verse with little or no rhyme, learning to write in form was once a necessary part of a poet's formal education.
    • The sonnet was invented in Italy during the mid-thirteenth century by Giacomo da Lentini, but the Italian Sonnet itself was honed and perfected by the humanist poet Petrarch. One of the most well-known Sonnet forms is the English format, popularized by a certain sixteenth century poet and playwright: William Shakespeare.
    • If you have been assigned the task of writing a sonnet for a school assignment, or you're simply looking to broaden your poetic horizons, the sonnet is a great place to start. Understanding how the two types of sonnets are formatted—and then broken down line by line—is an easy way to learn how to write them.

  • What You Will Need

    1. A quiet place to write
    2. Rhyming dictionary
    3. Thesaurus
    4. Pens and Pencils
    5. Paper
    6. Laptop or Desktop computer

  • The Petrarchan Sonnet

    1. In the octave portion, a problem or dilemma is presented, which is later worked through and solved in the sestet.
    2. Each line is written in iambic pentameter, which means that it will have ten syllables per line with the stress on every second beat: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM.

  • Octave

    • When writing your octave, aside from remembering your rhyme and meter, you want to explore the dilemma thoroughly. Sound out each line by counting the beats. At first this might seem awkward, but with practice it will become second nature. The octave is generally formatted in one eight-line block, but you can break it down into two quatrains (four lines each) if it makes the writing process easier.
    1. The purpose of the octave is to present a problem or dilemma.
    2. The theme is established in the first quatrain and developed in the second.
    3. It is comprised of two quatrains that break down into the rhyme pattern a-b-b-a a-b-b-a.
    Some 13th Century sonnets have outlasted 13th Century cathedrals. (Public Domain photo from National Archives)
    • For example, let's take a look at the octave of John Milton's Sonnet XIX. In the transcription below, the stressed syllables in Quatrain One are in all caps. The rhyme pattern is marked in parenthesis at the end of each line.
      • Quatrain One:
    • when I conSIDer HOW my LIGHT is SPENT, (a)
    • ere HALF my DAYS in THIS dark WORLD and WIDE, (b)
    • and THAT one TALent WHICH is DEATH to HIDE (b)
    • lodged WITH me USEless, THOUGH my SOUL more BENT (a)
      • Quatrain Two:
    • To serve therewith my Maker, and present (a)
    • My true account, lest He returning chide, (b)
    • 'Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?' (b)
    • I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent (a)
    • -courtesy of Luminarium
    • John Milton wrote this poem about losing his eyesight, and that dilemma is clearly established in the first quatrain, then further developed in the second quatrain.
    • The rhyme scheme and meter are each meticulously followed like the rhythm of a song, and that is key because the Italian word sonnet actually means "little song".

  • Sestet

    • The first line of your sestet is a major turning point in the poem and is often referred to as the volta. You have presented your reader with a dilemma or proposition and it is now time to solve the problem. Be sure to maintain the same meter and rhythm as the octave, but your end-rhymes will now follow a new pattern.
    1. The volta is a turning point in the poem when the dilemma presented by the octave must be solved.
    2. Lines one through three reflect on the dilemma presented by the octave, and lines four through six wrap up the problem.
    3. Traditionally the rhyme pattern was formatted one of two ways: c-d-e-c-d-e or c-d-c-d-c-d.
    • Note the rhyme pattern followed by Milton in the sestet of Sonnet XIX:
    • That murmur, soon replies, 'God doth not need (c)
    • Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best (d)
    • Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state (e)
    • Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed, (c)
    • And post o'er land and ocean without rest; (d)
    • They also serve who only stand and wait.' (e)
    • -courtesy of Luminarium
    • Milton follows the c-d-c-d-c-d pattern. In the first line of the sestet, the "volta" turns the outward dilemma inward for reflection, and the final three lines resolve the theme.

  • Reviewing the Writing Process

    • While the process may feel overwhelming when you begin working on your first Petrarchan sonnet, it isn't as difficult as it seems. Follow the simple formula below and practice, practice, practice!
    1. Choose a subject to write about.
    2. Break your subject into two parts: a problem and a solution
    3. While writing, count out the beats in each line and pay attention to the rhythm.
    4. Begin writing your Octave in iambic pentameter, with an a-b-b-a end-rhyme pattern.
    5. Present the problem or dilemma.
    6. When you have finished the Octave, begin working on your sestet. The sestet is also written in iambic pentameter, but the rhyme pattern will shift to either c-d-e-c-d-e or c-d-c-d-c-d.
    7. In the first line of the sestet, present the "volta", or turning point, which reflects on the dilemma presented in the Octave.
    8. In the subsequent lines, finish the sonnet by solving the dilemma.

  • The Shakespearean Sonnet

  • The Quatrains

    • Each line is written in iambic pentameter so that it ends on a strong rhyme. The three quatrains in a Shakespearean sonnet each serve a purpose when you break the poem down.
    1. Quatrain one establishes the theme or dilemma, and follows the a-b-a-b rhyme pattern.
    2. Quatrain two complicates the theme or dilemma, and follows the c-d-c-d rhyme pattern.
    3. Quatrain three contains the volta (or turning point), usually in line nine, and will often start with the word but. It follows the e-f-e-f rhyme pattern.
    • To get an idea of how this works, let's take a look at the quatrains of Shakespeare's Sonnet XVIII, excluding the couplet for now. Each line is written in iambic pentameter, and the stressed syllables in the first quatrain have been capitalized for easy identification. Note also how each end-rhyme pattern changes quatrain by quatrain.
      • Quatrain One
    • shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer's DAY? (a)
    • thou ART more LOVEly AND more TEMPerATE: (b)
    • rough WINDS do SHAKE the DARLing BUDS of MAY, (a)
    • and SUMmer's LEASE hath ALL too SHORT a DATE: (b)
      • Quatrain Two
    • Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c)
    • And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (d)
    • And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c)
    • By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; (d)
      • Quatrain Three
    • But thy eternal summer shall not fade (e)
    • Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f)
    • Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, (e)
    • When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f)
    • -courtesy of Shakespeare Online
    • In this popular Shakespeare sonnet, the speaker begins by comparing his love to a summer's day, but by line three of the first quatrain, the speaker admits that wind and time can weather beauty. This is the problem he has presented.
    • He elaborates on that problem in the second quatrain, continuing with images of summer decaying.
    • Note that line nine (the first line of Quatrain Three) begins with "but." This signals the "volta", after which he turns the hands of the clock back by promising that his love will never grow old, but be immortalized in the lines of poetry.

  • The Couplet

    • Shakespeare sometimes broke the rules of Sonnet form. (Creative Commons photo by Logan Ingalls)
    • The purpose of the couplet is to summarize and conclude the problem presented in the first three quatrains. Line nine begins the turning point in thought, and so lines thirteen and fourteen strengthen the resolve. The lines continue in iambic pentameter, but the rhyme scheme has changed so that both end-rhymes are the same.
    • Finishing with Shakespeare's Sonnet XVIII, notice how the final two lines reinforce the solution presented by the volta.
    • So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g)
    • So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (g)
    • -courtesy of Shakespeare Online
    • In conclusion the speaker promises that as long as people live and read, they will see his beloved as he has: in a perpetual state of youth and beauty. Count out the beat, and note that both lines end on the same rhyme.

  • Reviewing the Writing Process

    1. Choose a subject to write about.
    2. Break the subject into two parts: a proposition/dilemma and a solution.
    3. While writing, count out the beats of each line and pay close attention to the rhythm.
    4. In the first quatrain, lay the subject out for the reader, following an a-b-a-b rhyme pattern.
    5. The second quatrain is a deeper look into the subject. This stanza is written in a c-d-c-d end-rhyme pattern
    6. Turn everything around with the "volta" in line nine of the third quatrain.
      1. Often the word "but" is employed to signal the turning point.
      2. Follow the e-f-e-f end-rhyme pattern in this quatrain.
    7. The couplet is comprised of two lines and concludes with a solution to the issue explored through the body of the poem. Both lines end on the same rhyme represented by g-g.

  • Breaking the Rules

    • One of the beautiful things about poetry is that it is a personal expression for every poet. For some poets following such a rigid format might become discouraging, but there is a simple rule that writers and poets share: you have to know the rules before you can break them. Once you understand the basics of the sonnet, such as structure, meter, rhythm and rhyme you can get creative and really make a statement.
    1. Shakespeare liked to bend the rules in his sonnets all the time. For example, Sonnet 145 is written in iambic tetrameter (eight syllables), instead of pentameter (ten syllables).
    2. Modern sonnet writers often leave the rhyme out, but maintain the meter and line structure.

  • Conclusion

    • Practice is the key to conquering the sonnet. In a time when a great deal of the poetry is free verse and uninhibited, it can actually be liberating to explore the meticulous format of the sonnet. Whether you choose to follow one of the traditional methods above, or you go one step beyond and get creative, there is no mistaking the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a sonnet.

  • Resources for How to Write a Sonnet


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