What is a Shakespearean Sonnet?

A Shakespearean Sonnet is a poem expressive of thought or emotion or idea. It is usually 14 lines which are formed by three quatrains with a rhyming couplet for the last two lines.

A Shakespearean Sonnet poem

Sonnet 130

My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;	a
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;	b
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;	a
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.	b

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,	c
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;	d
And in some perfumes is there more delight	c
There in the breath that from my mistress reeks.	d

I love to hear her speak; yet well I know	e
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;	f
I grant I never saw a goddess go;	e
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground	f

Any yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare	g
As any she belied with false compare.	g

Why don't you try writing a Shakespearean sonnet and enter it into one of our poetry competitions.

For information on poetry types other than a Shakespearean sonnet visit our poetry glossary – poetry types.

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