How to Write a Sonnet – Poetry

Before you begin writing your sonnet, you need to know what a sonnet is. A sonnet is a fourteen line poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. The term “sonnet” is derived from the Italian word “Sonetto” which means “little song”. There are several different kinds of sonnets, but in this article, I will only focus on teaching you how to write an English or “Shakespearean” sonnet. A Shakespearean sonnet is composed of fourteen lines, each line containing ten syllables. It is written in iambic pentameter, which is the pattern of a non-emphasized syllable followed by an emphasized syllable, repeated five times. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, in which the last two lines are a rhyming couplet. Many modern sonnets are unrhyming, so if you choose, ignore the rhyme scheme and instead compose fourteen lines of poetry with ten syllables each.

Although you now know what a sonnet is, you still need to do one thing before writing–brainstorm. Write down whatever comes to your mind.

After brainstorming, you need to decide on a subject for your sonnet. Most sonnets are about love or philosophy, but you can choose any subject you would like.

Divide your sonnet into two sections. The first section should present your plot or situation, and the second section should bring the sonnet to a conclusion or climax.

Write the first section as three stanzas containing four lines each. Use an a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f rhyme scheme, where each letter stands for a line of the sonnet and the last words of all lines with the same letter rhyme with each other.

Write the last section as two rhyming lines of poetry, or a couplet.

Here’s an example of a sonnet by William Shakespeare.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments, love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Thanks for reading, I hope you learned how to effectively write a Shakespearean sonnet!