Genre Studies Unit- IV Sonnet

 Origin:

    It was originally a short poem, recited to the accompaniment of music- the word "sonnet".

Being a derivative of the Italian "Sonetto" meaning a little sound or strain.

The Italian Sonnet

    The Italian Sonnet is often known as the Petrarchan Sonnet but it is sometimes called "the classical", as being the model which other countries followed later. It is a short poem of fourteen lines, expressing one single thought or feeling. It is composed of two parts- the octave, a stanza of eight lines and the sestet, a stanza of six. The octave has two rhymes (say a and b) arranged according to the following scheme : a b b a, a b b a. The sestet sometimes has three rhymes in various ways as follows: c d e, c d e or c d c, d c d ; or c d e, d c e. The octave may be divided into two stanzas of four lines each called quatrains; and the sestet into two or three lines each called tercets. 

The English Sonnet

    The sonnet was introduced into England in the first half of the 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. The English Sonnet in three quatrains, in alternate rhyme, followed by a concluding couplet: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. Since it is divided into four parts, it has no pause and turn of thought at the end of the Eighth line.

The Spenserian Sonnet

    Spenser had evolved a new variety each of the quatrains linked to the other by an intermixture of the rhymes. Shakespearean Sonnet are all unconnected with one another : they have each their own rhymes and cannot, therefore, he said to be related structurally, though they are united by their subject- matter. Earlier, however, Spenser had evolved a new variety in which each of the quatrains was linked to the other by an intermixture of the rhymes in the following manner: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee.