Poetry Analysis Overview

Poetry is confusing. How do I even know what type of poetry I’m reading?

Chances are, you know more than you think. You can probably identify a nursery rhyme or a limerick. If you’re reading something that’s neither, take an educated guess. Here’s a tip: there’s a good chance it’s a sonnet.

How do you know it’s a sonnet?

I don’t. It’s an educated guess. Sonnets are common and have been around a long time.

Okay fine. So how do I verify if it’s a sonnet?

Sonnets have 14 lines.
Most lines have ten syllables.
If you’re reading it in English, it probably looks sort of square-ish.

Most sonnets can be divided into either two or three units:

1. Petrarchan sonnet - 8/6 : Eight lines (octet), then six lines (sestet)

2. Shakespearean sonnet - 4/4/4/2 : Three groups of four (quatrains), then two lines (couplet)

Either way, you end up with 14. I checked the math and that’s the technical answer.

How am I supposed to enjoy poetry if I’m counting lines and doing math?

Stop counting. Just start reading and get carried away.

I know it sounds silly. But try it.

There’s a good chance there’s a pair of ideas in there. One at the beginning, one at the end. After you read through once and just soak up the images and the feeling and magical words, go back and look for punctuation.

The first eight lines are the octave (two sentences of four lines each). They’re carrying the first idea.

The final six lines carry a related, but different idea.

This is the form of the sonnet and there’s an infinite and unimaginable number of ways that beautiful ideas and sensations can be created within this form.

But first, understand what the form is.