A sonnet is a 14-line poetic form that originated in Italy during the Renaissance. Sonnets typically use a meter of iambic pentameter, and they often explore themes of love, nature, and time. Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets include “Sonnet 18” (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) and “Sonnet 116” (“Let me not to the marriage of true minds”).
Other related questions:
What is sonnet and example?
Sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.
An example of a sonnet is Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”:
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
What is the main idea of a sonnet?
The main idea of a sonnet is to express love, admiration, or praise for someone or something.
Why is it called a sonnet?
There is no one definitive answer to this question, but one possible explanation is that the term “sonnet” comes from the Italian word “sonetto,” which means “little song.” This makes sense given that the sonnet is often described as a ” miniature poem” or a “poetic gem.” Additionally, the sonnet is often associated with music and with the idea of speaking directly to one’s beloved, which also fits with the meaning of the word “sonnet.”