Understanding Poetry: Shakespearean Sonnet. Italian for sonetto or little song, a sonnet has many forms. A traditional sonnet is a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme, but the Shakespearean Sonnet is written with the rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg using three quatrains and a couplet. The Shakespearean sonnet also has a "volta" which is the dramatic turn or shift in thought normally occurring in line nine, but can also be placed at the end of line 12 as well. The couplet at the end of the poem gives final clarity of the previous stanzas, and acts as the conclusion for the basis of the poem. The subject matter of a sonnet is based on love. Stanza One (Quatrain = 4 Lines) Line One: a Line Two: b Line Three: a Line Four: b Stanza Two (Quatrain = 4 Lines) Line Five: c Line Six: d Line Seven: c Line Eight: d Stanza Three (Quatrain = 4 Lines) Line Nine: e (This line will have the volta or shifting of dramatic change) Lin...