Sonnet

From Conservapedia

Sonnets are 14 lines long. The rhyme scheme of a sonnet determines whether it is a Petrarchan sonnet or a Shakespearean sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets are of Italian origin, and Shakespearean Sonnets were later developed in England. In the Petrarchan sonnet, there are first eight lines with the rhyme scheme 12211221. This is followed by six lines with the rhyme scheme 345345 or 343434. The Shakespearean sonnet also has 14 lines, but they are separated differently. There are 3 quatrains (stanzas of four lines), followed by a couplet. This couplet is a telling feature of a Shakespearean sonnet and is supposed to be the most powerful part, giving a resonance to the ending. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is 1212 3434 5656 77.

Both types have are in iambic pentameter, that is each line is of five beats, (iambs) with the stress on the second syllable in each two-syllable beat. E.G. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day".