The Sonnet Essay -- English Literature

The Sonnet Explore aspects of the sonnet tradition through reference to a range of material you have studied The word ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word ‘sonnetto’ meaning little sound or song. A sonnet is a special type of poem. The sonnet is always 14 lines long and usually expresses the poets’ personal feelings or thoughts; most often connected with love or death, which are two of the most basic aspects of human existence. The poem generally uses rhyme and metre to organise the poet’s ideas in a formal way. There are several different types of sonnets which all accomplish this in a slightly different style. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet was originally developed around 1350 by Petrarch, an Italian poet (1304-1374). Petrarch had fallen madly in love with a woman named Laura, but she was a married woman and refused to become his mistress. Petrarch wrote poetry expressing the idea of courtly love and conveying his own misery and his slavery to the love of Laura; a love denied. His verses contain accusations about the fickleness of love, the timeless quality of art and the hopelessness and devotion of eternal love. The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first eight lines are called the octave. This has two four line units that rhyme in the same way. A b b a, a b b a. The remaining six lines are called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds arranged in a variety of ways: cdcdcd, cddcdc, cdecde, cdeced, or cdcedc. The poem is clearly divided into two sections by the two differing rhyme groups. The change from one rhyme group to another signifies a change in subject matter. It can also be said that the octet prese... ... years of pain’ the word ‘long’ is again repeated to emphasize the time he has been away and the suffering he has experienced as a Black in a ‘White’ world. The tightness, compression and discipline of the sonnet form does not disguise but rather emphasises his love for Jamaica and his suffering since he left. In conclusion therefore, the sonnet has developed from its traditional form albeit still retaining some of the aspects Petrarch may have once used centuries beforehand such as an octave/sestet structure. It was originally a formal love ‘song’ with high ideals and a rigid format. Shakespeare transformed it and made the sonnet more accessible and fun for the common man to enjoy. The sonnet has since evolved further and can be used in a wide variety of forms and for an even wider range of subject matter and can be easily read by audiences world-wide.