A sonnet is a 14-line poem in iambic pentameter — ten syllables per line on a da-DUM beat — built around one idea that turns partway through. That turn is the volta. The two dominant forms are the Shakespearean (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) and the Petrarchan (octave ABBAABBA + sestet CDECDE). To write your own: pick one idea, draft in ten-syllable lines, follow a rhyme scheme, and aim your volta at line 9. Rules and an original example below.

What Is a Sonnet?

The sonnet began in thirteenth-century Sicily, where Giacomo da Lentini is credited with shaping the early form, and peaked in the fourteenth century with Petrarch, whose sonnets to Laura became the model for all of Europe. In the sixteenth century, Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, carried it into English, and Shakespeare made the form immortal with his 154 sonnets, published in 1609.

At its core, a sonnet is an argument in miniature: 14 lines, one dominant idea, and a turn that complicates or resolves it. Born as love poetry, it has since carried elegies, protests, even odes to baseball. The container is fixed; what you pour in is not.

The Rules: Structure, Meter & Rhyme

Sonnet rules come in three layers: line count, meter, and rhyme.

The 14 Lines

Every sonnet has exactly 14 lines — room for setup, development, turn, and conclusion. Thirteen feels incomplete; fifteen breaks the form.

Iambic Pentameter

The English sonnet's meter is iambic pentameter: five iambs per line, each an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one — da-DUM ×5. Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' is the textbook example: ten syllables, five iambs.

The Two Rhyme Schemes

The Shakespearean sonnet builds across three quatrains and lands in a couplet that often delivers the point. The Petrarchan sonnet poses a situation in the octave and resolves it in the sestet. Both turn at the volta.

The Volta

Volta means 'turn' in Italian: the moment the poem shifts direction, from praise to warning or question to answer. Without one, 14 rhymed lines march in place.

How to Write a Sonnet, Step by Step

Step 1: Choose One Idea — and Its Turn

Pick a subject, then decide how you will change your mind about it. A sonnet needs both a claim and a counter-move; if you can't name your volta in advance, you don't have one yet.

Step 2: Pick the Shakespearean Form First

Three quatrains of ABAB are friendlier than the octave's ABBAABBA, and the couplet gives a clear landing spot. Master one form first.

Step 3: Draft in Iambic Pentameter

Tap the beat as you write: da-DUM five times per line. Eleven syllables? Cut a filler word. Nine? Add one. Let the pattern dominate.

Step 4: Follow the Rhyme Scheme Quatrain by Quatrain

Lines 1-4 rhyme ABAB, 5-8 CDCD, 9-12 EFEF. A rhyming dictionary is a legitimate tool — every sonneteer has used one. Fill the scheme before polishing.

Step 5: Place the Volta at Line 9

Starting line 9 with 'But' or 'Yet' helps; those words are classic turn signals. In the Petrarchan form, line 9 is where the octave hands off to the sestet.

Step 6: End with a Strong Couplet

Spend your best image on the final couplet — it is the epigram readers will remember. A weak couplet sinks a fine sonnet; a strong one can save a mediocre poem.

Here is an original Shakespearean sonnet written for this guide. Watch for the 'But' at line 9, where the poem turns from cold outside to warmth within:

The first cold breath of autumn wakes the leaves
And paints the morning window with its white;
It settles on the garden like a thief
Who borrows color while the world sleeps tight.
The pumpkin on the step has turned to gold
And carries summer's warmth inside its skin;
The scarecrow in the field is growing old,
His coat a faded blue against the wind.
But I have stored the sunlight in my chest,
A jar of honey from the summer's bloom;
When winter comes to put the world to rest,
I'll sip it slowly in my little room.
So let the cold wind rattle at the door —
I've saved my honey for the winter's store.

Ten syllables per line. Rhymes: leaves/thief, white/tight, gold/old, skin/wind, chest/rest, bloom/room, door/store. The volta arrives on 'But' in line 9.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Wrong syllable count — Pentameter means ten syllables per line, not 'about ten.' Count on your fingers until the rhythm is automatic.

2. Forced rhyme — If the rhyme bends your grammar, readers feel the squeeze. Pick rhyme words before the line.

3. No volta — Fourteen lines of the same thought is a paragraph in costume, not a sonnet.

4. Losing the beat — A line that starts on a stressed syllable flips into trochaic (DUM-da) rhythm. Keep the da-DUM engine running.

5. A flat couplet — Ending with a filler couplet wastes the poem's two most powerful lines.

6. Mixing schemes — Pick one rhyme scheme and hold it for all 14 lines.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many lines and syllables does a sonnet have?

Fourteen lines, always. In iambic pentameter each line has 10 syllables (five iambs), so a full sonnet runs 140. Italian-language sonnets use an 11-syllable line, the hendecasyllable.

What is the volta in a sonnet?

The volta (Italian for 'turn') is where the poem shifts direction — a change in tone, perspective, or argument. It usually arrives at line 9, or in the closing couplet of a Shakespearean sonnet.

What's the difference between a Shakespearean and a Petrarchan sonnet?

Both have 14 lines and a volta. The Shakespearean is three quatrains plus a couplet, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The Petrarchan is an octave (ABBAABBA) plus a sestet (commonly CDECDE), the octave raising a question and the sestet answering it.

Do sonnets have to be about love?

No. Love is the traditional theme, but modern sonnets cover grief, politics, family, even programming. The form is fixed; the subject is free.

Ready to Write Your Own?

Further Reading

• How to Write a Limerick: Rules, Rhythm & Funny Examples — a much lighter form, five lines instead of fourteen.
• PoemGenius Sonnet Generator — see your idea turned into a sonnet in seconds.