The sonnet is a form of poetry. Poetry is a literary genre and inside it there are different forms. The sonnet, as its name reminds greatly, relies on sound. In addition one must remember it is a lirical form of poetry: it strongly focuses on private intimate feelings and emotions, and it follows that it is generally a personal form of poetry.
Liricall form of poetry implies liric.
Where was the sonnet born and how did it develop in time?
he sonnet form was born in Italy thanks to MR Petrarch. If we consider structure (and we can do it) we can see that:
The Petrarch sonnet consists of an octave and sestet. The octave consists of two quatrains. The rhymes scheme of the Italian sonnet of ABABAB and so on.. What metters in terms of soundis that other forms of poetry usa a very synthetical and condence form. It follows that the sonnet is a complex form of poetry.
Whenever a poet writes something he generally has a reason to organise the lines in that way.
What is the function of the octave and of the sestet in the Italian model?
The octave presents the spealling voice's problem. The sestet expresses a possible solution. In 'Pace non trovo' the octave expresses the poet's suffering because of love problem as confirmed by the capital letter in 'Amore' at line 7. The sestet consists of two tercets.
Thomas Wyatt keeps the structure of the Petrarchan sonnet/model, he keeps the octave and the sestet arrangement.
The English poet who wants to keep the structure of the Patrarchan sonnet has also to be fedel to the Italian model and to the function of that model. Mr Wyatt trasletes more or less Petrarch sonnet.
L'ottava è costruita sul contrasto che comunica il dolore del poeta. La seconda quartina esplicita la prima che si costruisce sul mistero.
Petrarch > ABAB Wyatt > ABBA
The sonnetter had big problems to cope with (=avere a che fare) with lenguage differences.
Henry Howard: ha trasformato la struttura del sonetto petrarcano per formare una struttura del sonetto inglese costituita da tre quartine e un distico a rima baciata che viene chiamato rhyming couplet.