Sonnet in Ten Sentences

1. A sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter, typically written in iambic pentameter.

2. The two main types of sonnets are Petrarchan (or Italian) and Shakespearean (or English) sonnets.

3. Petrarchan sonnets consist of an octave (eight lines) followed by a sestet (six lines), with a rhyme scheme of *abbaabba* and *cdecde* or *cdcdcd*.

4. Shakespearean sonnets are divided into three quatrains (four lines each) and a couplet (two lines), with a rhyme scheme of *abab cdcd efef gg*.

5. Sonnets often explore themes of love, beauty, mortality, and the human condition.

6. The volta, or turn, is a shift in the poem's tone or meaning, occurring around the 9th line in Petrarchan sonnets and the 13th line in Shakespearean sonnets.

7. Spenserian sonnets are a variation of the Shakespearean form, with a rhyme scheme of *abab bcbc cdcd ee*.

8. Miltonic sonnets are named after John Milton and feature a more fluid rhyme scheme and structure.

9. Modern sonnets may experiment with the form, sometimes using free verse or unconventional rhyme schemes.

10. Famous sonnet writers include William Shakespeare, Petrarch, John Donne, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Pablo Neruda.

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