The rhyme scheme is A B A B C D C D E F E F G G. Shakespearean sonnets contain four quatrains (4 lines) and one couplet (2 lines). The octave’s rhyme scheme is A B B A A B B A and the sestet’s is C D E C D E, or C D C D C D. Petrarchan sonnets are broken up into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (six lines). It can be either a Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet. Here at ARB, we celebrate poetry all year round, but figured we would take this opportunity to talk some about Shakespearean sonnets.įirst off, what is a sonnet? A sonnet is a poem that is comprised of 14 lines. Happy National Poetry Month! In 1996, the Academy of American Poet designated April as the month to officially celebrate poetry.
