What Is a Sonnet? Form, Rules & Famous Examples Explained

A sonnet is 14 lines. That's the rule. Everything else — rhyme scheme, meter, structure — varies. But the 14-line constraint has held for 700 years. Petrarch wrote them. Shakespeare perfected them. Contemporary poets still use them.

Here's what a sonnet is — and why the form endures.

The Basics

Length: 14 lines. Always.

Meter: Usually iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, alternating unstressed-stressed).

Structure: Often organized into an octave (8 lines) + sestet (6 lines), or three quatrains (4+4+4) + couplet (2).

Types of Sonnets

Petrarchan (Italian): Octave (ABBAABBA) + sestet (CDECDE or variants). The "turn" (volta) typically happens between octave and sestet. Problem in the first 8 lines; resolution or shift in the last 6.

Shakespearean (English): Three quatrains (ABAB CDCD EFEF) + couplet (GG). The turn often comes in the final couplet. Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, 116, 130 — all follow this.

Spenserian: Similar to Shakespearean but with linking rhymes between quatrains (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE).

Why the Sonnet Endures

The 14-line limit forces compression. You have to make every word count. The volta — the turn — creates dramatic tension. The form is a machine for producing meaning: setup, buildup, turn, landing.

Famous Examples

• Shakespeare, Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?")
• Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds")
• John Donne, "Death Be Not Proud"
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnet 43 ("How do I love thee?")