Sonnet
a species of poetic composition first brought into notice by Petrarch, and consisting properly of 14 iambic verses of 11 syllables. It is divided into two chief parts, each consisting of two divisions in the former, each comprising four lines (quatrain); in the latter, three (terzina). The quatrains have two rhymes, each of which is repeated four times; and in the common Italian form the rhymes are the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth verses, and the second, third, sixth, and seventh; but several other forms are also adopted. In the two terzine, there are either three rhymes each twice repeated, or two rhymes thrice repeated in all positions. The sonnet generally contains one principal idea pursued through the various antitheses of the different strophes, and adorned with the charm of rhyme. Italy and Spain are the countries in which the sonnet is most cultivated, the lightness and flexibility of their languages being eminently suited for such compositions. an