What is the standard meter of the English sonnet?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: Iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line)
Iambic pentameter—five sets of unstressed and stressed syllables—is the standard. Its rhythm closely mimics the natural cadence of English speech, making it ideal for the sonnet's meditative tone.
Keep practicing
More Sonnet Tradition questions
- In Michael Drayton's famous sonnet 'Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part,' what is the primary theme?
- The sonnet 'Whoso List to Hunt' by Sir Thomas Wyatt is an adaptation of a Petrarchan sonnet that allegorizes the pursuit of which historica…
- What is the function of the final couplet in a Shakespearean sonnet?
- John Donne's 'Holy Sonnets' are significant because they shift the sonnet tradition away from:
- Which 1590s sonnet sequence is titled 'Delia'?
- The Petrarchan conceit is best defined as: