Philip Sidney (1554–1599), for example, felt that conventional English poetry was too stiff and formal to convey passionate emotion, and he suggested that English writers should devote their energies to new themes and forms that could better convey strong feelings. The sonnet was introduced into England at a time of intense literary innovation. One significant effect of this rhyme scheme was that it accentuated the closing couplet, which acted as an epigram-a brief but pointed concluding remark-to the poem. The English sonnet, however, followed a different pattern: abab cdcd efef gg.

In the Italian sonnet, the octave rhymed abbaabba and the sestet rhymed cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce. The English sonnet also deviated from the Italian in its rhyme scheme. Though Shakespeare was not the first to use this form, it became known as the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet. English poets also used iambic pentameter, but they developed a sonnet form using three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a rhymed couplet of two lines. The octave tells a simple story or asks a question, and the sestet provides the resolution. This means that each line contains ten syllables, with accents falling on the second syllable of each word or phrase. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet consists of an eight-line stanza, or group of lines that form a section of a poem, called an octet and a six-line stanza (sestet), in iambic pentameter. It also allows the poet to demonstrate his brilliance in constructing complex and witty conceits, or complex extended metaphors, that fit within the parameters of the form. Yet within these boundaries the poem expresses a completely developed thought or emotion. A sonnet consists of only fourteen lines, and it follows a strict rhyme scheme (the pattern of rhymes in a poem) and rhythm.

The structure of the sonnet presents several challenges to the poet. In time the sonnet became one of the major poetic forms in English literature. Though the English language has very different sounds and rhythms than does Italian, these poets believed that their native language was creative enough to be used effectively in the sonnet form. 1517–1547) introduced the form to England by translating the sonnets of Italian poet Petrarch (1304–1374) and by writing sonnets of their own. 1503–1542) and Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey c. In the early 1500s English poets began experimenting with the sonnet, a type of poem first used in Italy in the fourteenth century. Published in The Riverside Shakespeare, 1974

Sonnets by William Shakespeare