Rhyme Scheme of Petrarchan Sonnet | Forms And Examples

If you want to read or write Italian sonnets with confidence, you need a clear sense of how the pattern of end sounds works.
The rhyme scheme of petrarchan sonnet structure shapes the flow of thought, turns the speaker’s mood, and guides the reader from tension to release.
Once you see how the octave and sestet fit together, the form stops feeling mysterious and starts to feel like a tool you can use with purpose.

This guide walks through the classic ABBAABBA pattern, the most common sestet options, the role of the volta, and practical steps for marking rhyme letters on any poem.
By the end, you will know how to spot a Petrarchan sonnet on sight and how to keep your own lines inside the pattern without feeling boxed in.

Quick View Of The Rhyme Scheme Of Petrarchan Sonnet

A Petrarchan sonnet has fourteen lines split into two clear blocks.
The first eight lines form the octave, and the last six lines form the sestet.
The rhyme scheme of Petrarchan Sonnet in its most traditional shape looks like this:

• Octave: ABBAABBA
• Sestet: usually CDECDE or CDCDCD, with several other accepted patterns

The octave pattern stays tight and stable, which allows the speaker to build a single situation or problem.
The sestet opens up into a fresh set of sounds, which lines up with a shift in thought called the volta.
That turn often comes at line nine, right where the rhyme scheme changes.

Rhyme Pattern	Section	Typical Effect
ABBAABBA	Octave	Builds a tight ring of sound that holds one main idea or tension.
CDECDE	Sestet	Balances new sounds so the closing feels measured and reflective.
CDCDCD	Sestet	Alternating rhyme gives the ending a more restless forward movement.
CDDCDD	Sestet	Repeating the D rhyme brings strong emphasis to a narrow set of lines.
CDDCEE	Sestet	Ends with a closing couplet while keeping clear ties to the Italian form.
ABBAABBA CDECDE	Whole sonnet	Classic combination often found in handbooks and classroom examples.
ABBAABBA CDCDCD	Whole sonnet	Favored in many English poems that adapt the Italian pattern.

Octave: Locking In The ABBAABBA Pattern

In the octave, line one and line four share the same end sound, marked with the letter A.
Line two and line three share a second sound, marked with the letter B.
That four line pattern repeats in lines five through eight, so the reader hears A B B A twice.

A rough sketch might look like this, with the final sounds underlined:

• Line 1 – A sound
• Line 2 – B sound
• Line 3 – B sound
• Line 4 – A sound
• Line 5 – A sound
• Line 6 – B sound
• Line 7 – B sound
• Line 8 – A sound

Because the same two rhyme sounds keep returning, the octave feels tight and enclosed.
Poets use that enclosed feeling to press on a problem, a request, or a strong emotion that does not yet have an answer.
In many classic Petrarchan sonnets, the octave describes a situation that feels stuck.

Sestet: Flexible Patterns After The Volta

Once the poem reaches line nine, the rhyme letters change.
The sestet usually uses three new sounds, marked C, D, and E.
The simplest pattern is CDECDE: the C sound returns in lines nine and twelve, the D sound in lines ten and thirteen, the E sound in lines eleven and fourteen.

Some poets prefer CDCDCD, which alternates two sounds and then repeats the sequence.
Others use variants like CDDCDD or CDDCEE, which pull attention toward the close.
All of these keep a clear break between octave and sestet, even when the mood of the poem shifts gently rather than in a sharp twist.

Rhyme scheme of petrarchan sonnet practice works best when you think of the octave as one ring of sound and the sestet as a new ring.
The exact order of C, D, and E can change, but those new letters signal that the speaker is looking at the situation from a different angle.

Rhyme Scheme In A Petrarchan Sonnet For Students

If you meet this form in class, you are usually expected to do three things: define the pattern, mark the rhyme letters on a poem, and explain how the turn in sound matches a turn in meaning.
With that goal in mind, it helps to link each part of the pattern to a clear job.

What The Octave Usually Does

The octave often sets out a problem, a complaint, a wish, or a description that carries pressure.
Because the ABBAABBA pattern repeats, each new piece of information sits inside the same sound cage.
That feeling of enclosure supports topics like unreturned love, moral trouble, or social tension.

Many guides, including the Poetry Foundation glossary on sonnets, describe the octave as the part that presents the main issue while the sestet reacts to it.
When you read, notice where the speaker seems boxed in; that mood nearly always lines up with the closed ABBAABBA pattern.

What The Sestet Usually Does

The sestet answers or reframes what came before.
The new rhyme sounds give the ear a sense of fresh air, so the poet can move toward acceptance, refusal, praise, or a new insight.
Sometimes the poem offers a direct answer; sometimes it settles for reflection rather than a clear fix.

Resources such as the Poets.org entry on the Petrarchan sonnet point out that this pattern suits Italian well because that language has many word endings that rhyme.
English has fewer natural pairs, which is why English Petrarchan sonnets often show more variety in the sestet than in the octave.

The Volta And Line Nine

The volta is the moment where the poem turns.
In a strict Petrarchan sonnet, that turn happens at line nine, right where the rhyme scheme changes.
In practice, some poets let the turn drift slightly, but the shift in sound still signals that something has changed in the speaker’s mind.

When you scan a sonnet, watch for linking words near line nine such as “yet,” “but,” or “and still.”
Those small words often mark a new direction that matches the move from the secure ABBAABBA of the octave into the more open pattern of the sestet.

How To Mark The Rhyme Scheme Step By Step

Once you know the idea of the pattern, the next step is to label a specific poem.
This method works whether you read a classic sonnet or write one of your own.

Step 1: Read The Whole Sonnet Aloud

Start by reading the fourteen lines without stopping to label anything.
Hearing the poem gives you a sense of how strongly the end sounds repeat and where the turn in feeling sits.
You may already hear the tight pull of an octave and the release in the sestet.

Step 2: Match The End Sounds

Now move line by line.
Look only at the last stressed syllable in each line, not the entire final word.
Any time a new sound appears at the end of a line, give it the next letter of the alphabet.

1. First new sound: label it A.
2. Second new sound: label it B.
3. Third new sound in the sestet: label it C, then D, then E if needed.

If a later line repeats an earlier sound, reuse that letter rather than adding a new one.
After you pass line eight, you should see a clear block of ABBAABBA if the poem uses the standard form.

Step 3: Check For The Volta And The Sestet Pattern

Once you reach line nine, pay attention to both sound and sense.
Do the letters change to C, D, and E?
Does the mood swing from complaint to reflection, from grief to calm, or from praise to doubt?

Compare the letters you wrote with the common sestet patterns in the first table.
If your letters match CDECDE, CDCDCD, or one of the listed variants, you are dealing with a normal Petrarchan sestet.
If the last two lines suddenly repeat the same sound, you may be looking at a hybrid form that borrows a couplet from the English sonnet.

Petrarchan Rhyme Scheme Versus Shakespearean Pattern

Students often meet more than one sonnet type at the same time, which can blur patterns in memory.
The rhyme scheme of Petrarchan Sonnet centers on an octave and sestet, while the Shakespearean sonnet divides into three quatrains and a couplet.

Feature	Petrarchan Sonnet	Shakespearean Sonnet
Main Sections	Octave (8 lines) + sestet (6 lines)	Three quatrains (12 lines) + closing couplet (2 lines)
Typical Rhyme Scheme	ABBAABBA CDECDE or CDCDCD	ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Turn In Thought	Often at line 9, with the move into the sestet	Often near line 9 or in the final couplet
Closing Effect	Gentle resolution or reflection across six lines	Sharp punch or twist in the final two lines
Common Use In Class	Reading theme through octave–sestet contrast	Tracing how each quatrain adds a new angle

When you scan a sonnet on the page, a quick check of the closing lines can help.
If the poem ends with a tight couplet that stands apart, your poem may lean toward the Shakespearean map even if the opening sounds resemble an Italian pattern.

Petrarchan Rhyme Scheme In Real Poems

Many classic poems in English adapt the Italian form.
William Wordsworth’s “London, 1802,” for instance, opens with an octave that follows ABBAABBA and then shifts into a sestet that reacts to that first block.
The rhyme scheme matches the move from a call for moral renewal into a picture of the model the poet calls on.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?” also uses the Petrarchan layout, with an octave that builds a series of ways of loving and a sestet that gathers those lines into a steady statement.
Many study editions mark the rhyme letters in the margin so learners can see how strongly the pattern supports the emotional arc of the poem.

When you read any sonnet from the nineteenth century or later, check the octave first.
If you see ABBAABBA, treat the poem as Petrarchan until the sestet proves otherwise.
Some modern writers keep the octave strict but relax the ending pattern, which keeps the core of the form while allowing room for experiment.

Common Mistakes With The Petrarchan Rhyme Scheme

Mixing Petrarchan And Shakespearean Features

New writers sometimes begin with ABBAABBA and then finish with a GG couplet because so many English sonnets use a final pair of matching lines.
That move creates a mixed form.
It can still work as a poem, but it no longer counts as a pure Petrarchan sonnet.

If your goal is strict form work, keep the sestet free of a closing couplet.
Use three rhyme sounds spread across six lines instead, so the ending feels open and balanced rather than locked into a final punch line.

Letting The Volta Drift Too Far

Another common issue comes from placing the main turn too late.
If the big change in thought falls at line twelve or thirteen, the poem may feel uneven, because the rhyme scheme of petrarchan sonnet structure pushes for an earlier shift.
Readers expect some kind of response to the octave once the sestet begins.

You can still vary the strength of the turn.
A subtle shift can work just as well as a sharp reversal.
The key is to let the reader feel that something changes around line nine in both sound and sense.

Overlooking Natural English Rhymes

Because English has fewer end rhymes than Italian, some writers feel trapped when they try to hold ABBAABBA across eight lines.
The form does ask for planning, but careful word choice solves most of the pressure.
Think in terms of sound families rather than exact spelling.

Experiment with near rhymes when your audience allows it, and draft several word lists for your A and B sounds before you start writing lines.
That way the rhyme scheme feels like a guide instead of a block.

Using The Pattern In Your Own Writing

If you want to write inside this form, start small.
Draft an octave first with the plain ABBAABBA pattern, even if you leave the sestet for another day.
Once the octave feels solid, sketch several different sestet patterns on a separate page and test which one fits your subject.

Read your draft aloud and listen for the moment where your feeling about the subject shifts.
Place that moment near line nine whenever you can, so the sound pattern and the meaning march together.
With that habit, you will move from counting letters on the page to hearing the Petrarchan pattern as part of your own voice.