The Petrarchan sonnet, also called the Italian sonnet, is a type of poem named after the Italian poet Francesco Petrarca. However, Petrarch did not create it himself. Instead, many Renaissance poets helped develop it. The structure of the Italian language makes it easier to use the rhyme pattern of the Petrarchan sonnet compared to English. The original Italian sonnet has fourteen lines with eleven syllables each, divided into two parts. The first part is called an octave, which has eight lines. The second part is a sestet, which has six lines.

Form

The octave of a Petrarchan sonnet usually follows the rhyme pattern A B B A A B B A. The sestet has more varied options. Petrarch often used C D E C D E or C D C D C D for the sestet. Other possible patterns include C D D C D D, C D D E C E, or C D D C C D, as seen in Wordsworth’s poem "Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room." This form was used in early English sonnets by Wyatt and others. For more information about the origins of the sonnet before it was used in English, refer to Robert Canary’s webpage, The Continental Origins of the Sonnet. In a strict Petrarchan sonnet, the sestet does not end with a couplet because this would split the sestet into a quatrain and a couplet. However, in Italian-style sonnets written in English, patterns like C D D C E E or C D C D E E are sometimes used.

The octave introduces a problem or conflict in the speaker’s thoughts during the first four lines (called the first quatrain). The next quatrain explains the problem or gives more details to the reader. The sestet begins with a volta, which signals a shift in the rhyme pattern and a change from the conflict to a resolution.

Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, translated Petrarch’s Italian sonnets into English. Surrey often used the English sonnet form in his own work, while reserving the Petrarchan form for his translations. Wyatt, however, frequently used the Italian sonnet structure in his original poems, not just in translations. Because of this, Wyatt is often credited with introducing the Petrarchan sonnet into English literature.

This form also led to an "anti-Petrarchan" style, which was sometimes mocked or used for different purposes by writers from the Inns of Court during the Renaissance.

Structure

A sonnet is divided into two parts: the "octave" or "octet" (which has 8 lines) and the "sestet" (which has 6 lines), making a total of 14 lines.

The octave usually introduces the main idea or problem of the poem and follows a rhyme pattern of A B B A A B B A. The sestet offers a solution or conclusion to the poem and uses different rhyme patterns, such as C D E C D E or C D C C D C.

Examples of sonnets include:
– William Wordsworth's "London, 1802"
– Emma Lazarus's "The New Colossus"
– Sri Aurobindo's "MAN THE ENIGMA"