A Shakespearean sonnet rhymes ABAB CDCD EFEF GG: three quatrains with alternating rhymes, followed by a rhyming couplet, for seven different rhyme sounds in fourteen lines.
That pattern shapes how every sonnet thinks. Each quatrain develops one stage of an argument, and the couplet, set apart by its own rhyme, delivers the conclusion. This guide explains how the rhyme scheme works, why it takes this form, and where Shakespeare breaks it. For the rhythm of the lines, see our guide to iambic pentameter.
At a Glance
Here are the key facts about the Shakespearean sonnet’s rhyme and meter for quick reference.
How the Rhyme Scheme Works
Each letter in ABAB CDCD EFEF GG stands for a rhyme sound, and lines with the same letter rhyme with each other.
Here is Sonnet 18, with each line marked by its rhyme letter and its rhyme word:
Each quatrain uses two new rhyme sounds, and none of them returns later in the poem. The couplet then introduces a seventh sound, G, that belongs to it alone.
Why the Quatrains Alternate
The alternating pattern of each quatrain, ABAB rather than AABB, keeps the poem moving forward.
When lines rhyme in pairs, each pair clicks shut. When they alternate, the ear hears the first sound, then a new one, and has to wait for both to be answered. The quatrain only resolves on its fourth line, which is why most quatrains in the sonnets end with a colon, a semicolon, or a full stop. Each one completes a single step of the argument, and the next quatrain starts afresh with two new sounds.
That is also why a Shakespearean sonnet so often reads as a sequence of three moves: a proposition, a development, and an intensification or turn. The rhyme scheme marks the boundaries between them. Our guide to how to read a Shakespeare sonnet shows how to follow that structure in practice.
The Couplet
The couplet is the most emphatic moment in a Shakespearean sonnet, because its two rhymes arrive back to back.
After twelve lines of alternating rhyme, two lines that rhyme immediately sound like a conclusion. Shakespeare uses the couplet to sum up, to reverse, or to answer what the quatrains have said, and the rhyme words themselves often carry the argument. In Sonnet 18, “see” and “thee” bind the reader’s eyes to the beloved. In Sonnet 129, “well” and “hell” tie knowing well to ending badly: “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well / To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.” In Sonnet 60, “stand” and “hand” set the verse against Time’s cruel hand.
Because the couplet is so strong, it is also where the sonnet usually turns. In Sonnet 130, twelve lines of mocking comparisons give way to “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare.” Many sonnets also turn earlier, at line 9, with the third quatrain’s “But” or “Yet,” as Sonnet 18 does.
Why the English Sonnet Uses Seven Rhymes
The Shakespearean rhyme scheme grew out of an Italian model, adapted to the needs of English.
The Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet rhymes ABBAABBA in its first eight lines and uses only four or five rhyme sounds in all. That works in Italian, where many words share the same endings. English has far fewer rhyming words, so repeating each sound four times is hard. The English form, first used by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in the 1540s, solves the problem by giving each rhyme sound only two lines and using seven sounds instead. Shakespeare did not invent the form, but his sequence made it famous, which is why it now carries his name. Our guide What Is a Shakespearean Sonnet? compares the two forms in more detail.
Masculine and Feminine Rhymes
Most of Shakespeare’s rhymes fall on a stressed final syllable, but a few poems use a softer kind.
A masculine rhyme ends on a stressed syllable, as in “day” and “May.” A feminine rhyme ends on an unstressed syllable after the rhyme, as in “painted” and “acquainted,” which gives the line an extra, trailing beat. Sonnet 20 is the only sonnet in the sequence that uses feminine rhymes on every line, and Sonnet 87 uses them on almost every line, with rhymes such as “possessing” and “releasing.”
Rhymes That No Longer Rhyme
Some of Shakespeare’s rhymes sound imperfect today, usually because English pronunciation has changed since 1609.
The couplet of Sonnet 116 pairs “proved” with “loved.” Sonnet 30 pairs “past” with “waste,” and Sonnet 60 pairs “crowned” with “confound.” These may have rhymed more closely in Shakespeare’s English, or they may have been accepted as near-rhymes, a convention poets still use. Sonnet 18 shows another variation: “temperate” rhymes with “date” on its lightly stressed last syllable.
Exceptions in the Sequence
Almost every one of the 154 sonnets follows the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG pattern, and the few exceptions stand out.
Sonnet 99 has fifteen lines, because its first quatrain has an extra fifth line, so it rhymes ABABA CDCD EFEF GG. Sonnet 126, the last poem addressed to the young man, has only twelve lines, arranged in six rhyming couplets. In the 1609 Quarto, it is followed by two pairs of empty brackets where a final couplet would normally be. Sonnet 145 keeps the usual rhyme scheme but is written in shorter lines of four beats rather than five.
The Meter
The rhymes sit on top of a steady rhythm, the iambic pentameter line.
Every sonnet except Sonnet 145 is written in iambic pentameter: ten syllables per line, in five pairs that each run from an unstressed syllable to a stressed one, “da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM.” Because the rhyme falls on the last syllable, the meter decides which syllable the rhyme lands on and how firmly. Our complete guide to iambic pentameter explains how to hear and scan the line, and how Shakespeare varies it.
Common Questions
The questions readers ask most often about the Shakespearean sonnet’s rhyme scheme, answered briefly.
What Is the Rhyme Scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet?
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Three quatrains rhyme alternately, and a final couplet rhymes on its own.
How Many Rhymes Does a Shakespearean Sonnet Have?
Seven rhyme sounds, each shared by one pair of lines, across fourteen lines in total.
How Is It Different From a Petrarchan Sonnet?
A Petrarchan sonnet rhymes ABBAABBA in its first eight lines and uses four or five rhyme sounds. A Shakespearean sonnet uses seven, in three quatrains and a couplet, rather than an eight-line and a six-line section.
Do All of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Follow This Rhyme Scheme?
All but two do. Sonnet 99 adds a fifth line to its first quatrain, and Sonnet 126 is written in six couplets.
What Is the Couplet in a Sonnet?
The final two lines, which rhyme with each other. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the couplet usually sums up or turns the argument of the three quatrains before it.
Related Reading
Three guides that build on the sonnet’s form.