The+Sonnet

=Sonnets =

The **rhythm** will be iambic pentameter (unless the poet is deliberately subverting this convention.)

It **will** have 14 lines. (This one is kind of non-negotiable.)

It **will** have a regular rhyme scheme. (Unless the poet is deliberately... etc. etc.)

8 (octaves)?
=** Types: **=

--Italian (**Petrarchan)** Structure: * Rhymes abbaabba cdecde using an octave and a sestet. There is often a shift in focus (a **VOLTA **) between the octave and the sestet.

--Elizabethan (**Shakesperean)** Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet (rhymes abab cdcd efef gg. The **VOLTA ** is before the last couplet, which usually 'sums up' or 'finalises' the poem's arguments.

These two will do for now - there are a few variations, so be prepared!

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