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How to Write a Sonnet: Rhyme Scheme, Meter & 3 Easy Steps
A sonnet is fourteen lines of iambic pentameter that argues one idea and turns on it. Write one in three steps: pick an idea with two sides, draft fourteen lines on a rhyme scheme such as ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and revise until the meter and the turn land.
What Makes a Poem a Sonnet
The sonnet began in thirteenth-century Sicily as the sonetto, a "little song," and Petrarch carried it to fame in the 1300s. English poets met it in the 1500s, and Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, published in 1609, made the three-quatrain version the default. Whatever the pattern, the engine of every sonnet is a single argument that changes direction near the middle or the end — the volta, Italian for "turn." No turn, no sonnet — you get a fourteen-line paragraph that happens to rhyme.
The Two Classic Rhyme Schemes
| Form | Structure | Rhyme scheme | Where the turn usually sits |
|---|---|---|---|
| English / Shakespearean | 3 quatrains + closing couplet | ABAB CDCD EFEF GG | Lines 13-14, the couplet |
| Italian / Petrarchan | Octave + sestet | ABBAABBA + CDECDE (or CDCDCD) | Line 9, where the sestet begins |
| Spenserian (rare) | 3 quatrains + couplet | ABAB BCBC CDCD EE | Usually the couplet |
In the Shakespearean scheme, each quatrain can open a fresh image — scene, consequence, limit — and the couplet snaps shut like a verdict: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. The Petrarchan scheme is harder in English because its rhymes repeat more; the octave sets up a situation and the sestet answers it, which suits meditation better than argument. The rare Spenserian scheme interlocks quatrains (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE) into a chain of sound but demands three rhyme families.
Meter: Iambic Pentameter in Plain Terms
Pentameter means "five measures," and an iamb is a two-syllable foot that goes light then heavy — da-DUM. Iambic pentameter is therefore ten syllables per line: five light beats and five heavy ones, roughly alternating. Tap Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" and you will hear the heavy syllables — I, PARE, TO, SUM, DAY. Poets bend the pattern constantly, but the five-beat spine is what your ear expects.
Practical check: read each line aloud and tap five times — tap six and the line needs trimming, and a word that fights the beat gets swapped. Never pad with filler to reach ten syllables; a clean nine-syllable line beats a stuffed ten.
How to Write a Sonnet in 3 Easy Steps
- Choose an idea with two sides. A sonnet is a miniature argument, so pick a claim with a counter-claim: "youth fades" against "love outlasts it," or "the city is noise" against "the city is music." Write both in one sentence each — the pushback becomes your volta.
- Draft fourteen lines over a rhyme scheme. Pick English or Italian, then write one complete line per rhyme slot, letting each line carry a single image or step of the argument. Do not polish yet — chase the rhymes, keep lines near ten syllables, and push the argument until it corners itself around line 12 so the couplet has something to resolve.
- Revise for meter, turn, and sound. Read the draft aloud and mark the five beats of every line. Cut abstractions, replace weak verbs, and make rhyme pairs feel inevitable — if one sounds bolted on, rewrite the earlier line to set it up. Then check the volta: the poem should visibly pivot, and the couplet should twist or resolve, not summarize.
Draft skeleton (Shakespearean):
Quatrain 1, ABAB — open your scene and state the claim
Quatrain 2, CDCD — develop it with fresh images
Quatrain 3, EFEF — push the idea to its limit
Couplet, GG — turn and land (the volta, lines 13-14)
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Rhyming before thinking. The argument must exist before the rhyme pattern; rhymes chosen first produce lines that say nothing.
- Writing a summary couplet. "And so we see that love is best of all" closes nothing. The couplet must change the reader's view of the poem.
- Forgetting the volta. Fourteen rhyming lines without a pivot is a rhymed paragraph, not a sonnet.
- Mixing schemes by accident. A quatrain that drifts into another scheme's chain (ABBA inside ABCD) breaks the ear's expectation. Map your rhyme letters first.
- Padding for ten syllables. Every "the" and "and" added to reach the count weakens the line. Write naturally, then compress.
Practice Prompts
- Argue that a small, ordinary object — a key, a kettle, a bus ticket — deserves to be remembered.
- Write a Petrarchan sonnet whose octave describes a problem and whose sestet refuses the easy answer.
- Address a sonnet to something that cannot answer: a city, a pet, a younger version of yourself.
If fourteen lines fight you, loosen up in a smaller form first: the haiku guide teaches the same lesson of cutting to the essential image, and a limerick vs haiku comparison shows rhyme and strict counts at the other end of the scale. For quick definitions of volta and iamb, browse the poetry terms glossary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the volta in a sonnet?
The volta is the turn — the moment the poem shifts from its opening argument to a reversal or resolution. In Italian sonnets it lands at line 9; in Shakespearean sonnets, with the closing couplet at lines 13-14. Mark it before you draft and every earlier line leads toward it.
Does a sonnet have to be in iambic pentameter?
A traditional sonnet does: fourteen lines of roughly ten syllables, five light-heavy beats per line. Modern English sonnets may keep the fourteen lines and loosen the meter. If you are learning the form, hold the pentameter — the constraint teaches compression — then loosen it once the habits are yours.
What is the difference between an English and an Italian sonnet?
An English (Shakespearean) sonnet is three quatrains and a couplet rhymed ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, with the turn usually in the final couplet. An Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet is an octave rhymed ABBAABBA followed by a sestet rhymed CDECDE or CDCDCD, with the turn at line 9.
Do sonnets have to be about love?
No. The tradition began with Petrarch's sonnets about Laura, but Shakespeare's 154 sonnets range over friendship, jealousy, time, mortality and poetry itself, and later poets used the form for politics, faith and landscape. The only real requirement is one idea that argues and then turns.
Can a modern sonnet skip rhyme?
Yes — twentieth-century poets wrote unrhymed fourteen-line poems in iambic pentameter and still called them sonnets, since meter and the turn carried the form. As a beginner, rhyme first: the pattern is the discipline that makes an ending land.
Ready to Write Your Own?
Fourteen lines is a small room: choose one idea, argue it, and let the couplet deliver the verdict. Draft fast, revise slowly, and read every version aloud until the five beats feel like a heartbeat under the words. Stuck for a first line? The free tools at poemgenius.com will start the engine — then make the fourteen lines unmistakably yours.