Introduction to the Sonnet Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, structural components, and rhyme schemes related to the sonnet.

Sonnet

A highly structured poetic form whose name literally means "little sound" or "little song".

Petrarchan Sonnet

Also known as the Italian Sonnet; a literary form developed in 13th century Italy and perfected by Petrarch in the 14th century, consisting of an octave and a sestet.

Laura

The woman who served as the great idol and spiritual symbol of Petrarch's sonnets, whose love Petrarch probed for over $40$ years from 1330 to his death.

Octave

The first part of a Petrarchan sonnet that bears the burden, presents the narrative, and uses the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA.

Sestet

The second part of a Petrarchan sonnet that eases the load, resolves the problem or doubt, drives home the narrative, and uses rhyme schemes such as CDE CDE, CDC DCD, or CDDC EE.

English Sonnet

Also known as the Elizabethan or Shakespearean Sonnet; a poetic form created as a less rigid alternative to the Italian Sonnet, composed of three quatrains and a couplet.

First Quatrain

The first four lines of an English sonnet, which introduce a doubt, problem, question, reflection, vision of the ideal, or cry of indignation or desire.

Second Quatrain

The second four lines of an English sonnet, which continue to develop what was introduced in the first quatrain.

Third Quatrain

The third four-line section of an English sonnet, which provides further development of the first two quatrains or offers a false answer or resolution.

Couplet

The final two rhyming lines (rhyme scheme GG) of an English sonnet, which provide the final resolution, summarize, emphasize, or offer a surprise ending.

Volta

Also called a turn; a sudden change in thought, direction, or emotion near the conclusion of a sonnet.

Iambic Pentameter

A poetic line structure consisting of $5$ iambs per line, where an iamb is an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.

Sir Thomas Wyatt

An English sonneteer ($1503$–$1542$) who translated Petrarchan sonnets into English, wrote over $30$ sonnets, and popularized writing love sonnets to a beloved.

Henry Surrey

An English sonneteer ($1517$–$1547$) and friend of Sir Thomas Wyatt who shares credit for introducing the sonnet to England.

Sir Philip Sidney

An English author ($1554$–$1586$) who composed a sonnet sequence of over $108$ sonnets titled Astrophel and Stella, narrating a courtship with Penelope.

Edmund Spenser

An English sonneteer ($1552$–$1599$) who composed $88$ sonnets to his second wife, Elizabeth Boyle, and developed the Spenserian Sonnet.

Spenserian Sonnet

A sonnet form created by Edmund Spenser that resembles the English sonnet but utilizes the interlocking rhyme scheme ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.