Petrarchan Sonnet (ABBAABBACDECDE)

About

An octave (ABBAABBA) presents a problem; a sestet (CDECDE or CDCDCD) responds. The volta comes at line 9.

Explanation

The Petrarchan sonnet divides into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines). The octave uses only two rhyme sounds (ABBAABBA), creating a tight, enclosed structure. The sestet can vary (CDECDE, CDCDCD, or other patterns) and provides resolution. The volta (turn) comes between the octave and sestet, at line 9. This creates a clear two-part structure: the octave presents a problem, question, or situation; the sestet responds with an answer, resolution, or shift in perspective. The Petrarchan sonnet is harder to write in English than the Shakespearean because it requires only four or five rhyme sounds total. Italian has more rhyming words, making this easier in the original language.

Example

I met a traveller from an antique land, (A)

Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone (B)

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, (A)

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, (B)

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, (A)

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read (C)

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, (D)

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; (C)

And on the pedestal, these words appear: (E)

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; (D)

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! (E)

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay (F)

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare (E)

The lone and level sands stretch far away." (F)

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias" (unconventional rhyme scheme)

Famous Poems

• Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• On His Blindness by John Milton
• The World Is Too Much with Us by William Wordsworth
• Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth

Writing Tips

• The octave should present a complete thought or problem. Don't resolve it early.
• The volta at line 9 is crucial. Mark it clearly with "But," "Yet," "And yet," or a shift in tone.
• Finding enough A and B rhymes for the octave is the hardest part. Plan these first.
• The sestet has more flexibility. CDECDE and CDCDCD both work.
• Read Milton and Wordsworth to see how English poets adapted the Italian form.
• This form suits meditative poetry about big questions—love, mortality, faith, nature.