What is a sonnet?

What is a sonnet?

(An Analysis of the Structure of Sonnet)

Antonius Siwi Dharma Jati

 Sonnet is a form of a poem which has 14 lines with a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. It comes originally from Italy that means little song or little sound. For me, I prefer to understand the meaning and to analyze the structure of sonnet by comparing it with the study of Indonesian literature. In Indonesian literature, I have a kind of poems named “pantun” or “soneta”. It should be slightly different, but by comparing those 2 kinds of literature, I can understand easily what sonnet is. The purpose of writing a sonnet in my own understanding is to express the feeling of the author in beautiful words.  There are two basic types of sonnets such as Petrarchan Sonnet and Shakespearean Sonnet.

1.     The Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian Sonnet)

The Petrarchan Sonnet consists of 14 lines divided into an octave and a sestet. An octave is a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter[1]. A rhyme itself is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words, most often at the end of lines in the poems. A sestet is a form of sonnet that is usually written with six lines. In this kind of sonnet, we have a rhyme scheme a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a (octave) and c-d-e-c-d-e, or c-d-e-d-e-d, or c-d-e-d-c-e (sestet). It consists of 2 parts that formed a compact form of argument. The first one is named an octave that forms the proposition which describes a problem or question. Then it is followed by a sestet that proposes a resolution.

To make it clearer, I would like to give an example. This example is a kind of Petrarchan Sonnet entitled “On His Blindness” by Milton.

This is an octave which has a rhyme scheme a-b-b-a a-b-b-a. Here, we can know the theme that describes a problem.

When I consider how my light is spent (a)
 Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, (b)
 And that one talent which is death to hide, (b)
 Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent (a)
To serve therewith my Maker, and present (a)
 My true account, lest he returning chide; (b)
 "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?" (b)
 I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent (a)

This is a sestet which has a rhyme scheme c-d-e-c-d-e. In this sestet, we can understand the conclusion or resolution of the theme of sonnet.

That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need (c)
 Either man's work or his own gifts; who best (d)
 Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state (e)
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed (c)
 And post o'er land and ocean without rest; (d)
 They also serve who only stand and wait." (e)

In that sonnet above, Milton wants to express his feeling to God. The octave of this sonnet tells the hard situation of him, when he became blind in his life. He expresses his frustration for his disability to see the light. He has great talent to write a poem and anything else. His frustration comes from his blindness, as if God does not do anything. Meanwhile, the sestet of this sonnet tells us the conclusion. God’s kingly status lets him to be patient and to serve Him in his blindness. Even though he becomes blind and cannot see the beauty of the world; his deepest desire and strong will are still alive. He just wants to be patient and serve God with his disability.

2.     The Shakespearean Sonnet (English Sonnet)

The Shakespearean Sonner also consists of 14 lines and each line has usually 10 syllables. It is written in iambic pentameterer. The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is three quatrains (a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f), which introduce the theme with many variations and also closed couplet (g-g) that sums up the sonnet. I would like to show the analysis of one example of the Shakespearean Sonnets. This example is entitled “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” and written by William Shakespeare.

This is the presentation of theme.  We can call it first quatrain variation. The rhyme scheme is slightly different from the previous quatrain.

 

Shall 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)

This is the second quatrain variation. The rhyme scheme is slightly different from the previous quatrain.

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)  

This is the third quatrain variation. The rhyme scheme is slightly different from the previous quatrain.

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)

These last 2 lines show the conclusion. It is a couplet resolution.

 

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g)
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (g)

                                                                                                             

In that sonnet, William Shakespeare gives the introduction by trying to compare his beloved to a summer’s day. However, he cannot compare both his beloved and a summer’s day, because she is lovelier than a summer’s day.     The lady whom he loves is more beautiful than a summer’s day also. If a summer’s day will end, her beauty is still eternal. Shakespeare describes his love feeling with his eternal beloved in his sonnet.

What I described above is more or less shows an overview of the sonnets. I hope it can be a means to learn and to understand more easily the literature especially the form of sonnet. For the greater glory of God.

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[1] Iambic pentameter is the name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (an iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed, such as "before"). It has been a fundamental building block of poetry in English, used in many poems by many poets from the English Renaissance to the present day. (Source: http://www.poetryarchive.org)