Poetry Forms — Sonnet

A form with 14 lines with 3 different rhyming schemes:

Shakespearean

a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g

Spensarian

a-b-a-b b-c-b-c c-d-c-d e-e

Petrarchan

a-b-b-a a-b-b-a c-d-e c-d-e

A sonnet is usually in three sections of alternating rhyme with a couplet ending it. The petrarchan format has a number of three line stanza endings called tercets: d-c-d, d-d-c or e-d-c

Note that when written there are no spaces between stanzas.

Example of a Sonnet

In the empty cavern that is my heart
There echoes dearest love we had
In precious moment of passion's dart
Your piercing arrow in velvet clad
Lost innocence from platonic vow
Where childlike love descends to lust
Of sensuous pleasures that none allow
And jealousy that breeds mistrust
That time alone 'neath crumpled sheet
Stained with promises dry and cracked
Unpromised by traitor indiscreet
Love-filled heart is raped, ransacked
You have left me, gone your way
And I am left to lie, decay.