Shakespeare is looking at a beautiful summer’s day which, in spite of its beauty, has limitations, and it eventually fades and dies. G: So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, Let’s look at a Shakespeare sonnet 18 to understand how the rhyming works, and how the message evolves: First quatrainĪ: Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?ī: Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Ī: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,ī: And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: Second quatrainĬ: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,ĭ: And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d Ĭ: And every fair from fair sometime declines,ĭ: By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d: Third quatrainį: Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest Į: Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,į: When in eternal lines to time thou growest: Couplet The rhyme pattern of your 14 line sonnet should now look like this: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG The rhyme scheme for this is GG, using words you haven’t used in the rhyming so far, for example, ‘see’ and thee’. Remember that a Shakespearean sonnet always has 14 lines, so you need two final lines – called a couplet. You now have your three Shakespearean quatrains – that’s 12 lines. The third quatrain needs different words again, to rhyme scheme like this: EFEF, for example, ‘fade’, ‘lowest’, ‘shade’, ‘growest’.Ĥ. The second quatrain will use different words to rhyme scheme like this: CDCD, for example, ‘shines’, ‘dimmed’, ‘declines’, ‘untrimmed’.ģ. The first quatrain will have lines that end in a rhyme scheme like this: ABAB, for example, ‘day’, ‘temperate’, ‘may’, ‘date’.Ģ. Your 14 line sonnet must be written in three sets of four lines and one set of two lines.ġ. Your sonnet must rhyme in a specific pattern It could be about one of your favourite subjects – sport, music, movies, nature, a book you’ve read, etc. It could be some thought you’ve had about life, or about a person or about people in general. It could be a feeling, like being in love. Your sonnet must be about one single idea.
So, now you have the basics, here are the three simple steps to have you writing your own sonnet in no time: 1. The first three of the four sonnet divisions/quatrains have the same rhyme scheme, whilst the fourth and last division/quatrain has a different rhyme scheme:Īll Shakespearean sonnets follow this 14 line pattern and rhyming structure. The 14 lines of the sonnet consist of four divisions, known as ‘quatrains’. (Find out more about what a sonnet is, and iambic pentameter, or discover some wonderful sonnet examples from a variety of poets.) All Shakespearean sonnets are written in iambic pentameter All Shakespearean sonnets have 14 linesĢ. In addition to this structure, all Shakespearean sonnets must have these two things in common:ġ. The bad news is that your sonnet will unlikely ever be as good as any of Shakespeare’s… but that’s no reason not to try! Sonnet structureĪ sonnet expresses a single idea, but it is generally an idea that develops and expands, with multiple facets, leading to a conclusion – and all within a very specific rhyming scheme.
The good news is that it’s very easy to write a sonnet.
SONNET RULES HOW TO
Want to know how to write a sonnet like one of Shakespeare’s? There’s good news and bad news when writing sonnets. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s Tale This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order.
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