A sonnet is a type of poetry.
A sonnet is a type of poetry made up of fourteen hendecasyllable verses , which are distributed in four stanzas: two that have four verses ( quartets ) and two that have three verses ( tercets ). The Latin term sonus (which can be translated as "sound" ) derived from the Italian word sonetto , which is the direct etymological antecedent of the word used in our language .
It is interesting to know, to know the formation of this type of poetic composition, that the famous Spanish writer of the Golden Age Lope de Vega made a burlesque and funny sonnet where he explains it step by step. We are referring to the one titled “Suddenly Sonnet.”
Typically, the first verse rhymes with the fourth, while the second verse rhymes with the third. The consonances , in all cases, have to be the same. Another characteristic shared by most sonnets is that, throughout their verses, you can see an introduction, a central knot and an end as a conclusion. The poet, therefore, will seek to introduce a theme, develop it and close it through a thought or reflection.
History of the sonnet
The history of the sonnet must be said to go back in time. It is considered that after Petrarch or Dante used it with mastery and frequency, it arrived in Spain in the 15th century at the hands of the Marquis of Santillana . From that moment it began to be practiced by many pens of that time and of later dates. However, those who are considered "fathers" of the sonnet in that country are Garcilaso de la Vega and Juan Boscán .
One of the most important moments that this type of poetic composition has had was in the period between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th . Specifically, it became widespread and regained its splendor thanks to the authors of the so-called Generation of '27 . Among them were both Rafael Alberti and Jorge Guillén and even Gerardo Diego .
There are many and very varied works of this type. It is interesting, in this context, to know the book titled "One Hundred Sonnets of Love." It was published in 1959 and has become one of the best-known and most famous works of the Chilean writer Pablo Neruda , who is considered by many to be the best poet of the 20th century in the world.
Dante Alighieri was an author who developed important sonnets.
Some references
The sonnets are present in all languages. Miguel de Cervantes , Francisco de Quevedo , Rubén Darío and Federico García Lorca are just some of the poets who wrote important sonnets in Spanish. In other languages, authors such as Dante Alighieri (in Italian), William Shakespeare (English), Luís de Camões (Portuguese) and Charles Baudelaire (French) stood out with their sonnets.
When a sonnet is made up of verses of minor art (which means that they have eight syllables or less), it loses its status and is classified as a sonnet . This modality, in Spanish, became popular with the so-called modernism (a movement that had its peak at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century).