The Sonnet Form Key Terminology

A 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and metre, often used to express love or intense emotion.

• Stanza

• Rhyme

• Sonnet

• Volta

A group of lines in a poem that form a structural unit, similar to a paragraph in prose.

• Metre

• Sonnet

• Rhyme

• Stanza

A repetition of similar sounding words, typically at the end of a line.

• Volta

• Rhyme

• Shakespearean Sonnet

• Iambic Pentameter

The beat and pace of a poem due to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

• Rhythm

• Petrarchan Sonnet

• Stanza

• Quatrain

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, which creates a rhythmic structure.

• Sonnet

• Rhyme

• Stanza

• Metre

A metrical pattern in poetry consisting of five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables in each line (ten syllables total).

• Iambic Pentameter

• Metre

• Volta

• Couplet

The pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line in a poem, often indicated with letters (e.g., ABAB, CDCD).

• Metre

• Shakespearean Sonnet

• Quatrain

• Rhyme Scheme

A four-line stanza or section of a poem.

• Petrarchan Sonnet

• Quatrain

• Volta

• Couplet

A two-line stanza or section of a poem.

• Quatrain

• Metre

• Couplet

• Rhyme Scheme

The turning point or shift in the poem's theme or argument.

• Sonnet

• Volta

• Rhythm

• Quatrain