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sonnet

sonnet

29 6.2
A short poem of 14 lines with a set rhyme pattern often about love
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑːnɪt/
  • Literature
translation icon : soneto
  • In her literature class, we studied several classic sonnets from the Renaissance.
  • sonnets and elegies
  • write sonnets
  • final sonnet

So I he has so many sonnets written for others, I thought I'd try and do the same.

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Examples

  • Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 is an ode to true love:

  • Ms. Mullen's collection includes several sonnets, at least one pantoum, and a couple of sestinas.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • One normally expects the turn in a Shakespeare sonnet to come in line 9.

    Academic text (1999)
  • You all did a great job with the sonnets today.

  • I have been reading sonnets.

  • One week she wrote a silly sonnet early in the morning, the next a villanelle.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Jane has attempted for thirty years to write one sonnet each fortnight, beginning Monday morning.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Why, that's from my favorite sonnet by Mrs. Browning.

  • We examine properties that define the sonnet and disregard properties that fall outside of this definition.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Jane also has a framed poster of Rainer Maria Rilke's sonnet to Orpheus on the wall.

    Academic text (2013)

Synonyms

Shakespearean sonnet
vssonnet
  • Literature
1 8.8

A 14-line poem that has three four-line parts and final two lines with the rhyme abab cdcd efef gg

is a 14-line poem not limited to that specific stanza pattern
Elizabethan sonnet
vssonnet
  • Literature
9.0

A 14-line poem with three four-line parts and a final two-line part with a regular rhyme pattern

is a 14-line poem used in many different rhyme patterns
English sonnet
vssonnet
  • Literature
7.9

A 14-line poem with three four-line parts and a final two-line rhyme

is a fourteen-line poem that can use other line and rhyme forms
Petrarchan sonnet
vssonnet
  • Literature
9.9

A 14-line poem with eight lines in one rhyme pattern and six in another

is the general 14-line poem not tied to the octave then sestet form
Petrarchan
vssonnet
  • Literature
9.9

A sonnet with eight lines in the first part and six lines in the second, used by Petrarch

is the broad 14-line poem that may adopt different stanza divisions
Italian sonnet
vssonnet
  • Literature
8.4

A 14-line poem with eight lines that present a problem and six lines that respond using set rhyme patterns

is the general form of fourteen lines without specifying that rhyme layout

Compounds

1 8.8

A 14-line poem that has three four-line parts and final two lines with the rhyme abab cdcd efef gg

Elizabethan sonnet
  • Literature
9.0

A 14-line poem with three four-line parts and a final two-line part with a regular rhyme pattern

English sonnet
  • Literature
7.9

A 14-line poem with three four-line parts and a final two-line rhyme

Italian sonnet
  • Literature
8.4

A 14-line poem with eight lines that present a problem and six lines that respond using set rhyme patterns

Petrarchan sonnet
  • Literature
9.9

A 14-line poem with eight lines in one rhyme pattern and six in another

Spenserian sonnet
  • Literature
9.9

A 14-line poem in lines of ten beats with three four-line parts and a final rhymed pair

How Light

anacreontic
  • Literature
9.9
lyric
  • Literature
42 4.6
sonnet
  • Literature
29 6.2
elegy
  • Literature
6 8.1
dirge
8 8.2

Surface Forms

sonnet singular
sonnets plural

Etymology

Sonnet comes from the Italian sonetto, which means 'little song', and from Latin sonus meaning 'sound'. So a sonnet is like a small song—a short poem with a musical rhythm and a fixed form.