Spencerian Sonnet
Sonnet Basics:
- 14 lines: an octave of 8 lines followed by a sestet of 6 lines
- Iambic pentameter: ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM ba DUM
- Involves a comparison, a juxtaposition, a contrast to help examine an idea
- Contains a volta after the octave--a 'turn around'
The Spencerian Sonnet:
- Developed by Edmund Spencer
- Three quatrains with interlocking rhyme scheme and a couplet
- abab bcbc cdcd ee
- Each quatrain develops its own separate, though related, theme
- Spencer often begins line 9 (where the volta is in Italian sonnets) with 'but' or 'yet'; however the true turn is usually in the ending couplet (EE)
Example:
Sonnet LIV
Worksheet:
SPENCERIAN SONNET:
A
B
A
B
B
C
B
C
C
D
C
D
C
B
C
C
D
C
D
E
E
E
to submit your formal poetry
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