Shakespeare's Sonnets

What is a Shakespearean sonnet?

• It is a 14 line poem
• It has 3 quatrains and 1 couplet
• Its rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg
• It is written in iambic pentameter

Terms you need to know:

• rhyme scheme
• stanza
• quatrain
• couplet
• iambic pentameter

rhyme scheme =
pattern of rhyme

one example is
abab cdcd efef gg

stanza =
a verse of a poem

quatrain = 4 lines of a poem with a rhyme scheme

couplet = a rhyming pair of lines

iambic pentameter =
a line of verse with 10 syllables: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable

iambic pentameter

• "Two households both alike in dignity"
• would be read like this....
• two HOUSE holds BOTH aLIKE in DIGniTY

Shakespeare almost ALWAYS used iambic pentameter in his sonnets.