As stated above, within a traditional Shakespearean sonnet the last two lines rhyme. This was done in order to draw extra attention to the final rhyming couplet. With a simple glance at the text, a reader should immediately take note of how the last two lines are indented. To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme Īll this the world well knows yet none knows well Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Is perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame, Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame But, there is not sufficient evidence to say that this is absolutely the case. Some scholars believe that she was a woman Shakespeare was having an affair with and that she served as the inspiration for a number of other works as well. This unknown person features in sonnets 127 to 152. It was published in 1609 and is part of the group known as the “Dark Lady” sonnets. It is one of the 154 sonnets written by the Bard. One great example of the Shakespearean sonnet at its strongest is Shakespeare’s own poem, ‘ Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame. The first is unstressed and the second stressed. This means that each line contains five sets of two-beat.
The poem follows a consistent rhyme scheme that conforms to the pattern of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and it is written in iambic pentameter.
Let’s start with the Shakespearean sonnet, sometimes referred to as “Elizabethan.” It is made up of three quatrains, or sets of four lines, and one concluding couplet, or set of two rhyming lines.