Whereas the Shakespearean sonnet has a top-heavy structure of 3 quatrains and a couplet, the Petrarchan sonnet is a little more balanced, using an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet to develop the poem's subject. Again, this couplet continues the imagery of commerce (losses).ĭevelop content as the Petrarchan stanzaic structure demands. There is no resolution to the problem of mourning here, but there is insight into grief and loss: to think of your memory is wonderful enough to make me feel as though I never lost anything.

The closing couplet marks a turn with the word “But,” which suggests that this is not a continuation (like “Then”), but a new thought.Quatrain 3 begins again with the transition word “Then,” and further develops the idea using the language of commerce (accounts, payment): Not only do I cry, but I cry heavily, as though I've never mourned this loss before.In this quatrain, he uses the language of commerce to develop the idea: cancelled woe and expenses. Quatrain 2 begins with the transition word “Then,” suggesting that it is connected to Quatrain 1, but moving on to a further development of the idea: when I'm in a nostalgic mood like that, I can cry freely about friends who have passed away or been otherwise lost to me.This quatrain uses legal terminology to get the point across: sessions and summons. Quatrain 1 introduces the situation: Sometimes, when I think about the past, I regret the things and people I've lost.It may help to examine an example, such as Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 30': The turn, which occurs in the 13th line of the Shakespearean sonnet, offers a resolution or insight into to the problem developed in the first three quatrains.

Each quatrain should build toward the final couplet, where you will have a turn, or a volta. Think of each quatrain as a little thought bubble, like a paragraph, in which you explore an element of the subject of your poem. Although your poem should have a single focus, each stanza of the sonnet should develop the idea further.

Iambic pentameter sonnet