Sonnet Form

A Shakespearean sonnet is 14 lines long and consists of three quatrains (stanzas with four lines) and one couplet (stanza with two lines) at the end. The poem follows a rhythm of iambic pentameter, which means that there are five "feet" per line. The feet are made up of two syllables with the stress on the second (da-dum). The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg, which means that lines with the same letter rhyme.

This may seem like a strict formula, but the Italian and petrarchan sonnets are even stricter!

Don't let the Shakespeare label or the form stop you from giving it a shot. It's a fun challenge. Our goal yesterday was to have a little fun and celebrate a good friend. We accomplished that even though it's not in perfect iambic pentameter.

The mystery co-authors are Meredith and Kylie, who would have been mentioned it in the poem if their names were easier to put in iambic pentameter.