Sonnet Poems
The sonnet is one of poetry's most enduring and beloved forms. In exactly 14 lines of iambic pentameter, a sonnet develops a single idea, argument, or emotional arc — building tension through its structure before resolving in a powerful final couplet or sestet.
Structure & Rules
14 lines of iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, alternating unstressed/stressed). Shakespearean: three quatrains (ABAB CDCD EFEF) + couplet (GG). Petrarchan: octave (ABBAABBA) + sestet (CDECDE or CDCDCD).
How to Write a Sonnet
Choose a single theme or argument. Use the first eight lines to develop your idea or present a problem. Use the final six lines (or final couplet in Shakespearean form) to resolve, twist, or reframe. Count to ten syllables per line, with emphasis on even-numbered syllables.
Sonnet Poems
Sonnet for the Sleepless
The house at three a.m. becomes a throat that hums with all the things we didn't say, and I lie still as someone in a boat
Sonnet at the Edge of Spring
The earth is trying something underneath— you feel it in the softness of the ground, a stirring, like a sleeper holding breath