Spenserian sonnet
- noun
- /ˈspɛnsəriən ˈsɒnɪt/
- Literature
:
soneto spenseriano
- Learning to write a Spenserian sonnet required attention to its unique rhyme scheme.
Examples
-
The poet crafted a Spenserian sonnet to pay homage to the Elizabethan era.
-
Learning to write a Spenserian sonnet involves mastering the intricate rhyme pattern and the rhythmic flow of iambic pentameter.
-
Her collection includes several Spenserian sonnets exploring themes of love and nature.
-
The poem is a classic example of a Spenserian sonnet.
-
Many poets admire the beauty of a Spenserian sonnet.
-
Her collection includes several Spenserian sonnets that beautifully illustrate its distinct structure and rhyme scheme.
-
The poet created a Spenserian sonnet that reflects the themes of love and nature, adhering to the traditional form.
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'Spenserian' (pertaining to Spenser's characteristic poetic manner) and 'sonnet' (a 14-line structured poem) can reasonably infer this means a sonnet in Spenser's style, so the basic compositional sense is clear. However, the precise metrical and rhyme-scheme details (three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with abab bcbc cdcd ee) are specialized literary knowledge not predictable from the constituents alone, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Spenserian sonnet is named after the poet Edmund Spenser, who used three four-line stanzas and a final two-line stanza when he made this kind of sonnet. He linked the rhymes across stanzas with the pattern abab bcbc cdcd ee, so the rhymes pass from one stanza to the next like a chain, and that image explains why it means 'a sonnet in Spenser's linked rhyme form'.
