

Each line of a sonnet has 10 syllables, so it includes 2 iambic pentameters. To mark for iambic pentameter, start by counting the syllables in each line as they are read aloud. Writing a sonnet in iambic pentameter is partly about expressing a message and partly about simply writing in the traditional form.

The sonnet always has 14 lines and 10 syllables in each line. It has a strict number of lines and ways of rhyming, and it uses the iambic meter. Syllables alternate between unstressed and stressed beats, creating this pattern: de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM. The form adds power to writing by drawing on this history. If you count the syllables in Macbeth’s first lines, you can see how it works: ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’ (Macbeth, 1:3). Iambic pentameter is a verse rhythm often used in Shakespeare’s writing. It goes like this:Īdditionally, the lines of a sonnet include iambic pentameter (refer to definition above). Iambic pentameter is used almost all the time in Macbeth. To mark the rhyme scheme, you give the same letter of the alphabet to each matching rhyme or similar sound. So, Shakespearean sonnets ALWAYS have the same rhyme scheme, with the rhyming sound being at the end of each line. Shakespearean sonnets always consist of 3 quatrains and 1 couplet.Ĭouplet- 2 consecutive lines of verse with end rhyme It has a specific rhyme scheme and a “ volta” or a specific turn. A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter A. Shakespearean sonnet- In poetry, a sonnet has 14 fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter. Understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects of the sonnet. Shakespeares sonnets are composed of 14 lines, and most are divided into three quatrains and a final, concluding couplet. Iambic pentameter- It can be described as a line consists of ten syllables, where the first syllable is stressed, the second is unstressed, the third is stressed and so on until it reaches the 10th line syllable. Rhyme Scheme- a consistent pattern of rhyme throughout a poem
