Usually around line 9, there is a kind of “turn” or change in the direction of the argument, like at line 9 in Sonnet 8 above, where Shakespeare stops talking about summer, and starts talking about the person to whom he’s writing. Sonnet Form A sonnet’s 14 lines are arranged into three short groups or quatrains which are four lines long. One reason Shakespeare has this rhyme pattern is to draw your attention to the last two lines, then draw the sonnet to a close with the simpler rhyme of the couplet. This is called an ABAB rhyme pattern, and it is the trickiest thing about writing a sonnet. You’ll notice that in the sonnet above, every other line rhymes except the end. So all you need is 14 lines that follow a particular rhyme scheme.

I’ve written before about Iambic Pentameter, but just to be clear it’s a 10 syllable line that goes da-Dum- daDum-da-Dum-daDum-daDum. What Is A Sonnet? A sonnet is a short poem that’s only 14 lines long, written in what is called Iambic Pentameter, Shakespeare’s preferred form of poetry. I don’t want to lie it takes a lot of patience and thought to craft a sonnet, but the rules are easy to follow. If you’ve never written a sonnet, don’t worry, the kind of sonnet Shakespeare wrote is pretty easy to write, and it follows just a few simple rules. Sonnet writing has been a time honored tradition for showing the people we care about just how much they mean to us. What follows is kind of a do-it-yourself poetry manual that would be great if you want to write a poem for a spouse or a loved one for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Mother’s Day or any other time, to show that you care. Shakespeare wrote 154 short love poems called sonnets. Since this is national poetry month, I thought I’d talk a little bit about Shakespeare’s poetry.

How to write iambic pentameter sonnet