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EXTERNAL SCAFFOLDING INTERNAL STRUCTURES
(apart from meaning) (pattern of meaning)

T he “English” or Shakespearean”
sonnet consists of 14 lines of
iambic pentameter (you can easily
Within the external sonnet form,
William Shakespeare (WS) draws
his themes in various ways.
speak one line in one breath) with
the line end-rimes in a pattern of A. The same idea is pre-
abab-cdcd : efef-gg. Each set of four sented in three quatrains,
lines is a quatrain and the last two each with a different meta-
lines are called a couplet, indented
in Shakepeare’s Sonnets. The first
phor, a different angle on
the same theme, followed
How to Read a Sonnet
two quatrains is the octave; the by a couplet, as in WS 73
last six lines is the sestet. (dying day, dying year, in Shakespearean form
An iamb is a set of two syllables dying fire, love now) and
the first of which is unstressed and my 30. which means reading aloud
the second stressed. Pentameter is
a line of five feet. (A unit of rhythm
B. The octave presents a
in poetry is called a foot from po-
etry’s early association with dance;
theme, the third quatrain
summarizes it, and the cou- T
a line of poetry is like a measure of plet condenses it once again,
T
music.) Thus a line of iambic pen- as in WS 55 (you live in my
tameter sounds lines) and my 15. T

da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.

To avoid monotony and to sup- C. Often considered

port or illustrate the meaning, most the normative internal
sonnets vary the rhythm. A natural structure, the matter in
pause within a line is called a the octave undergoes a
caesura, in which case the rhythm volta, a turn, in the ses-
might be indicated by a vertical tet, as in WS 29 (lonely,
slash (|) in scansion: comforted) and my 14.
x / x / x / | x / x / Vern Barnet
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well D. Some sonnets expose their www.VernBarnet.com
(Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129:13)
themes by beautifully meander-
A line with a complete unit of ing within the external form.
meaning or grammatical boundary
180429 copyright © 2018 Vern Barnet, Kansas City, MO

is end-stopped. If it continues to THE VOLTA

the next line, it is enjambed.
The volta, “turn,” is a feature of
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Italian (Petrarchan) sonnets in
is generally credited with develop- which, at line 9, a different per-
ing the usual English rime scheme spective, voice, or tone is pre-
(above) which Shakespeare adopted
in most of his sonnets. It employs
sented, often beginning with Yet
seven end-rime sounds; the Italian or But or While. In Shakespeare,
sonnet uses fewer in two quatrains: sometimes the volta isn’t made
abba-abba for the octave and two until the couplet.
tercets such as cde-cde or cdc-cdc.
Edmund Spenser’s scheme was of- This page is for those with a technical
ten abab-bcbc:cdcd-ee. interest in the Shakespearean sonnet form.

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 What is a Sonnet? For me, writing a sonnet is Of course most sonnets don’t call on
like prayer. Specifically, the God and some call on no one, but what-
Often about the experience of love, a sonnet (“little sound”)
collect’s five parts lead me to ever the subject in sonnet structure C,
is usually a 14-line poem, in iambic pentameter rhythm — sonnet structure C (next page), the sense of shift (volta) from the octave
da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM. The line end-rime where the octave (1) invokes to the sestet may parallel the sense of
and (2) describes the Deity — shift from collect (2) to (3). This shift is
scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is abab-cdcd : efef-gg. and the sestet presents (3) the why I find writing a sonnet like praying.
Often a volta, a turn of thought, occurs after the 8th line. petition or praise. The conclud- Something happens. It is like describ-
ing couplet may suggest the ing someone and then speaking directly
DETAILS ON LAST PAGE.
completion of (4) “in Christ, our to him or her; or a shift, as when Jesus,

A
Lord” and (5) “Amen.” The in the final crisis, said, “May this cup be
poem is not the way we know about sonata allegro form.
clearest example in my book is taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as
ordinarily speak. W H You don’t have to know how to the controversial 118 “Collect.” you will” (Matthew 26:39).
Auden calls it a “verbal con- score a gymnast when you see
traption”: —“A poem is a rite; something amazing. You don’t
hence its formal and ritualistic have to be a horticulturist to ap- HOW TO READ A SONNET
character. Its use of language is preciate a garden’s appeal. You 0. Review the facing page. There 5. Do you find paronomasia —
deliberately and ostentatiously don’t have to be able to paint to is no right way to read a punning and word-play?
different from talk.” Just as a be awed by Velásquez. You don’t poem, only different ways. (Because of pronunciation
dancer may beautifully and have to be a master chef to enjoy
1. How is the sonnet set in changes since Elizabethan
skillfully move across a space a delicious meal.
print? — Indentations and English, we sometimes fail to
in ways beyond the usual gait, Still, knowing a little about an
stanza breaks may be cues spot them in Shakespeare,
so the poet often employs art form greatly enhances one’s
for the voice. but many of mine are pretty
words in strange ways. pleasure. The devices of a sonnet
obvious; for example, my 23
can, in 14 lines, compress and 2. Which lines end with a com-
“Examination.”
The pleasure of poetry is, in reveal a world of meaning. Art is plete unit of meaning (often
part, seeing how the structure the body language of the soul. one breath)? Capitalization 6. Are images and conceits (far-
and the matter of the poem and punctuation can also fetched comparisons) fresh
create each other — as I say The Hebrew Scripture pres- suggest how to breathe. and effective? How do they
explaining the cover of my ents God through sounds rather 3. Read the sonnet aloud, per- structure the poem?
book: than images (forbidden in the De- haps several times, as you 7. Does the thought, speaker,
The poetic form does not merely calogue). God spoke, not wrote, to continue the next steps. A situation, metaphor, or
contain a sentiment as a glass
create the world. God’s voice may sonnet is a lyric, but read it story-line change direction?
contains water. Rather speak of
the grail containing wine; the
be heard many ways, including “a dramatically. Vary your vol-
8. What theme or “thoughts of
meaning of each is intensified by still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). ume, speed, and pauses as
the heart” arise?
the other. In poetry the form and The word sonnet derives from the theme develops.
the sentiment are as intimately “little-sound,” so unspoken words 4. Relish the sound-play — 9. Where is theme’s center? Let
related as body and soul. on a page do not make a sonnet, repetition and contrasts in the voice transform any in-
which begins with sounds, even rhythm, phrasing, allitera- formation into the theme.
The fixed form sets up each the groans through which the tion (consonant sounds), as- 10. Is this sonnet a universe of
sonnet’s secret inner rules, and Spirit may plead for us (Romans sonance (vowel sounds), meaning in a nutshell? How
discovering how each contrap- 8:26-8). A sonnet is to be heard, words, internal rimes (but can that be displayed and
tion works within the 700-year not seen, just as a musical score don’t overplay end rimes). conveyed through the voice?
tradition can be thrilling. is not realized until it is per-
formed. (A particular example in See Vern Barnet’s Thanks for Noticing: The Interpretation of Desire, pages 31-48, for an
To be moved by a Beethoven my book is 13 “Cowboy Krishna explanation of general poetic devices and the sonnet form. The book is available from
symphony, you don’t have to Plays his Flute.”) the KC Public Library and at local bookshops — see VernBarnet.com.
© 2016, Vern Barnet, Box 45414, Kansas City, MO 64171
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