How to Format the Spenserian Sonnet
The 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser, author of "The Faerie Queene," is credited with first formatting what is known as the Spenserian sonnet. Here's how to format one.
Instructions
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The Spenserian Sonnet, Well-known in Classical Literature
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The first thing to make note of in writing the sonnet is that Spenser's rhyme scheme uses the octave, which is eight rhyming lines, and the sestet, which is six rhyming lines.
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2
The specific rhyme scheme is ababbcbc cdcdee.
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3
Decide on an effective topic for your sonnet--ideas concerning love, love lost or nature have been the traditional focus.
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4
Format your ideas into the Spenserian octave/sestet rhyme scheme, as shown in Step 2. The first four lines, for example, are abab:I love you very much my dear.Let's stay oh so close.Yes, year after yearAnd make each holiday toast.
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Tips & Warnings
Use your creativity while observing the format.
Keep with the specific Spenserian format, as there are many sonnet forms.
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Comments
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Amy L Douglas
Oct 22, 2009
Edmund Spenser (15521599) ONE day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washèd it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide and made my pains his prey. Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay 5 A mortal thing so to immortalise; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wipèd out likewise. Not so (quod I); let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame; 10 My verse your virtues rare shall eternise, And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew. -
sonnetreader
Jun 03, 2009
Is there any reason you could not have quoted some lines of Spenser?
