The poet drives the point home: Now immortalized in this poem, the lover will live as long as there is life. When in eternal lines to time thou growвЂ™st Д«ecause you will live forever in my poetry. Nor shall Death brag thou wanderвЂ™st in his shade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owвЂ™st He says nothing, not even death, can take the loverвЂ™s beauty, especially since that beauty has now been recorded in the poetвЂ™s poetry. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,ДЄnd every fair from fair sometime declines,Д®verything pretty becomes less pretty eventuallyД«y chance, or natureвЂ™s changing course, untrimmвЂ™d But it also expresses regret that beauty fades, and nothing can change that. This section expands on the theme of the loverвЂ™s beauty. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,ДЄnd summerвЂ™s lease hath all too short a date: But the poet also suggests this might be a bad idea because summer is not always gentle and does not last long. In this case, the poet compares the lover to a summer day.

The opening sets the sonnetвЂ™s subject and tone. Quatrain 1: Establish Main Theme and Metaphor The notes under each line help explain and explore the sonnet and its unique form. Below is one of the most famous English sonnets ever put on paper- Sonnet 18В by William Shakespeare. Like most things in life and love, a sonnet is easier to understand once you explore a real example. These poems explore the subjects of love, beauty, jealousy, heartbreak, and the passage of time. ShakespeareвЂ™s plays are as current today as they were centuries ago.Д«ut readers have also memorized many of his 154 sonnets to recite and whisper to one another. He was an actor and playwright, author of such stage classics as Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, A Midsummer NightвЂ™s DreamВ and dozens of other plays. Shakespeare is often discussed as the greatest writer in the English language. Both sonnet forms have 14 lines, but differ in structure and rhyme scheme.

The English Sonnet, or Shakespearean Sonnet, named for William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

The Petrarchan Sonnet, or Italian sonnet, named for the Italian poet and scholar Francesco Petrarca (1304вЂ“1374).

HereвЂ™s how вЂњproвЂќ poets denote the rhyme scheme of an English sonnet (using Shakespeare's Sonnet #18, below):

Rhyme Scheme:В rhyming syllables at the end of every other line, and a rhyme between last two lines.

Line Structure:В pentameter, or ten syllables that means five tra-LAHsВ in a line, like so- tra-LAH tra-LAH tra-LAH tra-LAH tra-LAH.

It finishes with a two-line stanza called a couplet They are broken into three stanzas of four lines called quatrains. For English sonnets, here are the basic rules: In general, sonnets follow certain guidelines of rhythm and rhyme.

Sonnets are forms of вЂњlyric poetryвЂќ-poetry that expresses deep feelings. No form of poetry is more associated with love than the sonnet. Shakespeare's Sonnets: Crash Course Literature er, pin down this indescribable little thing called love. BrowningвЂ™s case.ДЇollowingВ are some of the words of wisdom people have used to try to pen. ThatвЂ™s pretty deep stuff-or high and wide, in Mrs. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height to some of the most memorable lines ever penned, such as these from an enduring sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Love poems have ranged from the silly and cute.

ThatвЂ™s unlikely to change as long as humans have hearts that beat, eyes that gleam, and glands that sweat. It remains a favorite subject of thinkers and poets. But many, many more have shared the roller-coaster, pitter-pat, and clammy palms of first love and love-at-first-sight. Many others have shared the heartache of lost love. Some writers have chronicled the comfort of long-lasting love, and the love of family and friends. But itвЂ™s a little hard to tell whether this wise man was giving a thumbs up to loveвЂ™s inspiration or getting grumpy about the sometimes silly words love inspires. ThatвЂ™s the observation of Plato, the legendary philosopher of Ancient Greece. Love Poems вЂњAt the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.вЂќ

Sonnet examples by students