are spenserian sonnets written iambic pentameters

They are the Shakespearean sonnet (named after William shakespeare) and the Spenserian sonnet (named after Edmund Spenser). The octave may be known as two quatrains if printed in quatrains, and the sestet may be known as two tercets.įollowing the introduction of the Italian sonnet into English poetry by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-47), and its further development by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42), two other major forms developed. The usual rhyme scheme is abba abba (the octave) and cde cde (the sestet). In the Italian sonnet, the octave develops one thought, and the sestet grows out of the octave’s thought, varying and completing it as if the sestet were a response to the octave, with a possible change in point of view. Developed from the Sicilian strambotto (meaning a Sicilian peasant song), this verse form consists of two quatrains and two tercets.

Many writers sought to model their verses upon those of another Italian, Francesco petrarch (1304-74), who created what is known as the Petrarchan sonnet.Ī sonnet is typified by three distinct forms, the Italian form being the most common. The sonnet increased in popularity throughout Europe during the renaissance. Italian Giacomo da Lentino (1188-1240) and other members of the court of Frederick II (1194-1250) are known as the inventors of the form, and Provencal courtly love poetry was an important influence. The sonnet, a name derived from the Italian son-netto, meaning song, is a 14-line poetic form that developed near the close of the Middle Ages.

Are spenserian sonnets written iambic pentameters