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sonnet
sonnet poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme. There are two prominent types: the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet, composed of an octave and a sestet (rhyming abbaabba cdecde ), and the Elizabethan, or Shakespearean, sonnet, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet (rhyming abab cdcd efef gg ). Variations of these schemes occur, notably the Spenserian sonnet, after Edmund Spenser (rhyming abab bcbc cdcd ee ). The sonnet is generally believed to have developed from medieval songs. In Italy, where it was cultivated during the Renaissance, it achieved great expression in the work of Petrarch , Dante, Tasso, and Michelangelo. The form was introduced into Spain by Almogáver, into Portugal by Camões, into France by Saint-Gelays and Marot, and into England by Wyatt and Surrey. The sonnet came into prominence in Germany during the romantic period in the work of Goethe, Schlegel, Heyse, and others. Innumerable sonnets and sonnet sequences appeared in Elizabethan England, notably by Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare. Around the time of Milton's great sonnets, the use of the form began to decrease, but with the advent of romanticism in the early 19th cent. the sonnet again achieved popularity in the poetry of Wordsworth and Keats. Poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Rossettis, and George Meredith in the 19th cent. and Dylan Thomas and W. H. Auden in the 20th cent. also wrote sonnets. American poets noted for their sonnets include Longfellow, E. A. Robinson, Elinor Wylie, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. |
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"sonnet." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sonnet." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-sonnet.html "sonnet." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-sonnet.html |
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sonnet
sonnet, a poem consisting of 14 lines (of 11 syllables in Italian, generally 12 in French, and 10 in English), with rhymes arranged according to one or other of certain definite schemes, of which the Petrarchan and the Elizabethan are the principal, viz.:
1. a b b a a b b a, followed by two, or three, other rhymes in the remaining six lines, with a pause in the thought after the octave (not always observed by English imitators, of whom Milton and Wordsworth are prominent examples); 2. a b a b c d c d e f e f g g. The sonnets of Shakespeare are in the latter form. The sonnet was introduced to England by Wyatt and developed by Surrey (see also under metre) and was thereafter widely used, notably in the sonnet sequences of Shakespeare, Sidney, Daniel, Spenser, and other poets of the Golden period, most of which are amatory in nature, and contain a certain narrative development: later sonnet sequences on the theme of love include those of D. G. Rossetti and E. B. Browning. Milton, Donne, Keats, and Yeats have all used the form to great and varied effect, and it continues to flourish in the 20th cent. |
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-sonnet.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-sonnet.html |
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sonnet
son·net / ˈsänit/ • n. a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line. • v. (-net·ed, -net·ing) [intr.] archaic compose sonnets. ∎ [tr.] celebrate in a sonnet. |
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"sonnet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sonnet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sonnet.html "sonnet." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-sonnet.html |
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sonnet
sonnet Poem of 14 lines, most often in iambic pentameter and usually employing Petrarchan or Shakespearean rhyme schemes. The Petrarchan consists of an octet and a sextet, usually with an abbaabbacdecde rhyme scheme. The Shakespearean, having a final rhyming couplet, is ababcdcdefefgg.
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"sonnet." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sonnet." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-sonnet.html "sonnet." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-sonnet.html |
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sonnet
sonnet (pros.) †short poem; poem of fourteen 10-syllable lines with a particular rhyme-pattern. XVI (sonet). — F. sonnet or its source It. sonetto, dim. of suono sound; see -ET.
Hence sonneteer XVII. Partly — It. sonettiere. |
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T. F. HOAD. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sonnet.html T. F. HOAD. "sonnet." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-sonnet.html |
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sonnet
sonnet
•dammit, Hammett, Mamet
•emmet, semmit
•helmet, pelmet
•remit • limit • kismet • climate
•comet, grommet, vomit
•Goldschmidt
•plummet, summit
•Hindemith
•hermit, Kermit, permit
•gannet, granite, Janet, planet
•magnet • Hamnett • pomegranate
•Barnet, garnet
•Bennett, genet, jennet, rennet, senate, sennet, sennit, tenet
•innit, linnet, minute, sinnet
•cygnet, signet
•cabinet • definite • Plantagenet
•bonnet, sonnet
•cornet, hornet
•unit
•punnet, whodunnit (US whodunit)
•bayonet • dragonet • falconet
•baronet • coronet
•alternate, burnet
•sandpit • carpet • armpit • decrepit
•cesspit • bear pit • fleapit
•pipit, sippet, skippet, snippet, tippet, Tippett, whippet
•limpet • incipit • limepit
•moppet, poppet
•cockpit • cuckoo-spit • pulpit • puppet
•crumpet, strumpet, trumpet
•parapet • turnspit
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Cite this article
"sonnet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "sonnet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sonnet.html "sonnet." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-sonnet.html |
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