English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0027 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Shakespearean Sonnet
Captions available
The idea
The Shakespearean or English sonnet rhymes abab cdcd efef gg: three quatrains and a closing couplet. The quatrains develop the subject and the couplet sums it up or turns it. Shakespeare's hundred and fifty-four sonnets, published together in sixteen-oh-nine, gave the form his name.
In practice
Three quatrains and a couplet.
Where people slip
The final couplet often carries the turn.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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