The octave's purpose is to introduce a problem, express a desire, reflect on reality, or otherwise present a situation that causes doubt or conflict within the speaker. The octave and sestet have special functions in a Petrarchan sonnet. For background on the pre-English sonnet, see Robert Canary's web page, The Continental Origins of the Sonnet. This form was used in the earliest English sonnets by Wyatt and others. Because of the structure of Italian, the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet is more easily satisfied in that language than in English. There are several possibilities for the sestet, including C-D-E-C-D-E ( Italian sestet, C-D-D-E-C-E, C-D-C-D-C-D ( Sicilian sestet), C-D-D-C-E-E, C-D-C-D-E-E ( English sestet), C-D-D-C-C-D (as in Wordsworth's "Nuns Fret Not at Their Convents Narrow Room" poem). ![]() The rhyme scheme for the octave is typically that of the Italian octave, A-B-B-A-A-B-B-A. In this form the sonnet's 14 lines are composed of two parts, an octave (lines 1-8) and a sestet (9-14). Petrarch developed the Italian sonnet form, which is known to this day as the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet or the Italian sonnet.
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