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How to write a Sonnet (1)
The Sonnet made simple...
The traditional English - sometimes referred to as Shakespearian - style sonnet normally consists of 14 lines broken down in to 3 quatrains and a closing rhyming couplet. It is OK to write the 3 quatrains as a 12 line stanza if the writer prefers - the entire sonnet can be written as one 14 line stanza if the writer prefers.
The rhyming pattern is thus whichever way you choose to construct the sonnet: Rhyme lines 1 & 3 - 2 & 4 - 5 & 7 - 6 & 8 - 9 & 11 - and 10 & 12. The final two lines should be a rhyming couplet.
OK. Ideally prosodic rhythm (prosody) should be used throughout in the form of iambic pentameter, which is ten syllables in each line or 5 metric feet. One metric foot = 2 syllables which should be an unstressed (short syllable) followed by a stressed (long syllable) so that it sounds like this:
di daa - di daa - di daa - di daa - di daa.
That is a line of iambic pentameter using prosodic rhythm. After the first couple of attempts, the rhythm becomes easier and more natural until you find that you can get the syllable count right without having to count them.
William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, this is his sonnet No. 103 which is a perfect example:
Sonnet 103
Alack, what poverty my Muse brings forth,
That having such a scope to show her pride,
The argument all bare is of more worth
Than when it hath my added praise beside!
O, blame me not, if I no more can write!
Look in your glass, and there appears a face
That over-goes my blunt invention quite,
Dulling my lines and doing me disgrace.
Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
To mar the subject that before was well?
For to no other pass my verses tend
Than of your graces and your gifts to tell.
And more, much more, than in my verse can sit
Your own glass shows you when you look in it.
I hope this helps anyone who is considering writing a sonnet. It even shows that England's greatest writer was sometimes deserted by his Muse... :-)
Many thanks to Fellsman for putting this guide together.
prosody (pronounced /'pr?s?di/ pross-?-dee) is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or choice of vocabulary.