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Description:

This video defines sonnets, a favorite of William Shakespeare. What are the different types of sonnet? How do you identify different kinds of sonnet (spoiler alert: rhyme scheme plays a big role)?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

Sonnets, a la Shmoop. Hope you like your poems with a little structure.

00:18

Free verse poetry is a popular form nowadays, as it allows a poet to write without strict

00:23

guidelines of rhyme or meter. [scroll writes on chalk board and then on wall]

00:26

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the “sonnet”…

00:29

…which doesn’t really believe in… writing outside of the box. [sonnet bashes scroll over the head with a ruler]

00:32

That’s not to say that there isn’t room for creativity in a sonnet…

00:35

…but you’d better be creative using imagery, rather than fiddling with the format.

00:40

Okay, so who are these authoritarian poems who don’t believe in rule-breaking?

00:45

Sonnets are 14-line poems… yes, 14 lines exactly…

00:48

…and they follow a very rigid rhyme scheme.

00:53

There are actually a few different types of sonnets…

00:55

…but the most famous is the Shakespearean, or English, sonnet. [Shakespeare walks down red carpet with paparazzi]

01:00

Bill Shakespeare wrote over 150 of these bad boys, which is why they’re named after him.

01:04

He also had over 150 unpaid itemized statements, which is why those are today called “Bills.”

01:12

In a Shakespearean sonnet, the rhyming pattern is a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g.

01:20

Or, to express that in terms that aren’t a hodge-podge of letters…

01:24

…the lines that rhyme with one another in a typical English sonnet are:

01:28

…the first and third, the second and fourth…

01:31

…the fifth and seventh, the sixth and eighth…

01:33

…the ninth and eleventh, the tenth and twelfth…

01:35

…and finally, the last two.

01:38

Any deviation from that structure, and you no longer have a sonnet.

01:42

That’s a lot of pressure on a poor little poem. [sonnet hold up a rock over it's head]

01:44

And yet… there’s more.

01:46

Most… but not all… English sonnets use iambic pentameter…

01:50

…which relates to the words or syllables that are stressed in each line of the poem.

01:55

Although… with so many rules in place, it’s a wonder the entire poem isn’t stressed [sonnet lounges on pool deck chair]

02:01

If we take a look at the first couple lines of our sample sonnet…

02:03

…you can see that every other syllable gets a bit of emphasis.

02:06

It’s almost like the rhythmic beating of a drummer.

02:08

But with fewer groupies. So yeah, a sonneteer is bound by quite a few

02:12

stringent rules.

02:12

But that structure doesn’t prevent sonnets from hitting us on a gut level. [small man kicks sonnet in the stomach]

02:16

In fact, it almost turns them into little songs…

02:18

…which is what the word actually means…

02:21

…and that smooth, cadenced pattern draws us in rather than closes us off. [sonnet sprouts wings and flies off]

02:27

Read all 150-plus of Shakespeare’s sonnets and see if you agree.

02:31

Good luck not speaking in iambic pentameter for the rest of the week.

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