Iambic Pentameter
Iamb - An unstressed syllable ˘ followed by a stressed syllable '
Penta - Five
Meter - A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a rhythm
Therefore...
Iambic Pentameter - A verse consisting of five iambs (unstressed + stressed) adding up to ten syllables per line
Definitions courtesy of McGraw-Hill
Penta - Five
Meter - A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables to create a rhythm
Therefore...
Iambic Pentameter - A verse consisting of five iambs (unstressed + stressed) adding up to ten syllables per line
Definitions courtesy of McGraw-Hill
Shakespearean Sonnets
DefinitionsA Shakespearean sonnet is a poem written in iambic pentameter with 14 lines consisting of three quatrains, a final couplet, and a rhyming scheme as demonstrated in the example to the right.
A quatrain is a four line division in a poem and a couplet is a pair of rhymed lines in a poem. Sonnets in Shakespeare's PlaysSpeaking in poetry, and especially sonnets, was especially reserved for characters who were very wealthy. The logic behind this is that, they would've been more educated than most, and, therefore, more eloquent in their speech. A good example of this is the conversation between Romeo and Juliet in Act 1, Scene V.
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Example: Sonnet 18 by ShakespeareShall I compare thee to a summer's day? (a)
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: (b) Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a) And summer's lease hath all too short a date: (b) Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c) And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (d) And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c) By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; (d) But thy eternal summer shall not fade (e) Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f) Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, (e) When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f) So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g) So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (g) |
An Example of a Romantic Sonnet
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ParaphrasedWhen people who truly want to get married are getting married, don't let me
Give them reason to call it off. Love does not Does not change with any changing circumstances Or agrees to be removed as a lover wants: No! it is a permanent mark That survives storms and is not flustered; Love is like the north star to wandering ships, You can't measure it's value, but you can measure it's distance. Love is not at the mercy of Time, though outward beauty Comes within the range of it's sickle: Love does not change with time, But it endures until the end of time. If someone proves me wrong, Then I take back what I said, and no man has ever truly loved. |
An Example of a Comedic Sonnet
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ParaphrasedMy lover's eyes are not bright like the sun;
Her lips are not red like coral: Her skin is dull, unlike white snow; Her hair looks like black wires. I have seen pink on roses, But her cheeks are not pink; Some perfumes smell better Than my lover's breath. I love the sound of her voice, but I know That music sounds much better. I tell you that I've never seen a goddess in her because she walks on the ground rather than in the heavens: And yet I think my love as rare As any woman who has been told false comparisons. |
Sonnets courtesy of Shakespeare-Online