How to Write a Poem in Octave-Sestet Form

Petrarch italian sonnet

Back in the 1420s, a gentleman by the name of Francesco Petrarch came up with the sonnet form of writing poetry. A sonnet perfected what people during the time thought poetry was supposed to be: a compact form of literature that said more than it seemed to, and properly rhymed so as not to hurt the ear. Since that day, writing a sonnet or a poem in octave-sestet form, has plagued many who have tried it.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Writing utensil (pen, pencil, marker, etc)
• Paper

1. Understand what rhyme scheme is. Rhyme scheme is the way the end of the line rhymes with other ends of lines in the same poem. Each rhyme sound is given a letter, and same letters mean that those words at the end of the line rhyme together. For example:
   Roses are red (a) <--first rhyming word
   Violets are blue (b)<-- 2nd word, doesn't rhyme with a, so it is b.
   I'm glad I'm not dead. (a) <--Rhymes with "red," so we give it the same letter.
   And so are those guys. (c) <-- Doesn't rhyme with red or blue, so it gets its own letter.

   The rhyme scheme of this poem is abac. This means that the first and third lines rhyme, but the second and fourth do not.

2. Understand that an octave is eight lines with a specific rhyme scheme, and a sestet is six lines with a specific rhyme scheme. A sonnet has 14 lines. The octave portion of the sonnet is broken into two four-line sections. The sestet is broken into two three-line sections.

3. Write the octave with the following rhyme scheme: abbaabba. This means that the lines one and four rhyme with lines five and eight, and lines two and three rhyme with lines six and seven. The content of the octave explains the subject of the sonnet, the plot of the sonnet and what is going on.

4. Skip a line. Write a sestet with the following rhyme scheme: cdccdc. The sestet is the conclusion part of the sonnet. This is the part where the final conclusion is given, the meaning spun to mean something else, or the poet makes a didactic point.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't have to stop your sentence at the end of the line. Feel free to continue onto the next line, as long as the word you leave at the end of the line keeps with the rhyme scheme.

• The octave writing never enters into the sestet side.

Resources

• Teaching Sonnet
• Example of an octave sestet poem