What I found interesting was the video explaining the differences between Italian sonnets and Shakespearean sonnets. Both are made up of 14 lines, however the way they are sectioned is very different. Italian sonnets are made up of two sections, the octave and the sestet. The octave is usually used to express a problem or argument while the sestet is used for the remedy of the issue. However, in Shakespearean sonnets it is split up 3 sections/ 4 lines each, usually on the topics of love or the effects of time on physical beauty and the last 2 lines are reserved for a summary of the message in the poem. I initially felt it might be difficult to understand how to differentiate the two styles but, the couplet is what will give you a quick guess to whether it’s an Italian or English sonnet. That’s because Italian sonnets do not have couplets. For example, in Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, the entire poem describes a woman and how unconventional she is and how she doesn’t exactly resemble a desirable woman, although still managing to become someone’s mistress. The very end of the poem or the couplet, takes a turn by explaining that despite all those flaws, she is rare and describing her as his love in the same instance. Knowing they have different structures helps me know what to look for so that I may understand poem better.
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