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GCSE English Literature · key term
A fourteen-line poem. A Shakespearean sonnet usually uses iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
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Paper 1
Revise: RomeoThe important difference emerges when Juliet answers him. Their first fourteen lines of dialogue form a shared Shakespearean sonnet. Romeo calls Juliet's hand a "holy shrine" and his lips "two blushing pilgrims"; she develops his religious imagery rather than remaining a silent object of admiration.
A fourteen-line poem. A Shakespearean sonnet usually has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and uses iambic pentameter.
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Paper 1
A fourteen-line poem. A Shakespearean sonnet usually has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and uses iambic pentameter.
Revise: JulietAt the Capulet feast, Juliet does not merely listen to Romeo’s admiration. Their first conversation forms a shared Shakespearean sonnet: fourteen lines with an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme, predominantly in iambic pentameter, a rhythm of five unstressed–stressed pairs per line. Juliet answers Romeo within the same poetic form and develops his religious imagery of pilgrims, saints and prayer.
Paper 2
A fourteen-line poem. A Shakespearean sonnet usually has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and is written in iambic pentameter.
Revise: Writer's methodsThe Act 1 Prologue is a Shakespearean sonnet: fourteen lines organised into three four-line rhyme units and a final couplet, with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Its controlled pattern gives the introduction a sense of order and completion. The audience hears the whole tragic journey compressed into a finished poetic shape.
Component 1
A fourteen-line poem organised into three four-line units and a final rhyming couplet, usually with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Revise: I Shall ReturnI Shall Return is a Shakespearean sonnet: fourteen lines organised by the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The rhyme pattern divides its argument into three quatrains, or four-line units, and a closing couplet. The first two quatrains explore natural beauty; the third turns to music and cultural belonging; the final couplet explains the emotional need behind the imagined return.
