The sonnet's structure

Poetry is a litterar genre and the sonnet is a form. The sonnet as its name remindes greately relies on sound. In addition one must remember it is a lirical form of poetry: it strongly focuses on privat intimate feelings and emotions and it follows that it is generally a personal form of poetry.

-Where was the sonnet born and how did it develop in time?

The sonnet form was born in Italy thanks to mr. Petrarch. If we consider the structure of Petrarch's sonnet consists of an octave and a sestet. The octave consists of two quotrains. The rime of the Italian sonnet is ABAB ABABC and so on. What matters in terms of sound is that sound plays a very important function: it contributes to add compactness to the poem.

The sonnet better that other forms of poetry uses a very synthetical and condensed form . It follows that the sonnet is a very important and complex form of poetry.

- What is the function of the octave and rhe sestet in the Italian model?

The octave presents the speaking voice problems. The sestet expresses a possible solution. So the octave in "Pace non trovo" expresses the poet's suffering because of love problems as confermed by the capital letter in Amore at line seven.

The sestet consists in three tercets. Thomas Wyatt keeps the structure of the Petrarchian model; he keeps the arrangement of the octave and the sestet. The English poet who wants to keep the structure of the Petrarchan sonnet has also to be faithful, to adhere the function of what is written.