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Double sonnet

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A 28-line poem comprising two sonnets (often Petrarchan or Shakespearean) linked thematically and sometimes through a shared volta or concluding couplet.

Detailed Definition
Double sonnet is a 28-line poem comprising two sonnets (often Petrarchan or Shakespearean) linked thematically or narratively; it allows for extended development of idea or emotion, with the second sonnet deepening, complicating, or resolving the first’s proposition.
Example
Example in poetry:
In John Donne’s “La Corona,” seven sonnets interlink through shared lines to form a double sonnet crown; In George Meredith’s “Modern Love,” 50 16-line poems function as double sonnets exploring marital collapse; In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Fatal Interview,” double sonnets structure love’s rise and fall; In contemporary poetry, Terrance Hayes’ “American Sonnet” sequence uses double sonnet logic for racial critique; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” sonnet fragments double as prose and lyric.
Additional Notes
A 28-line poem in two connected 14-line sections, allowing expanded argument or narrative beyond a single sonnet's scope. Elizabeth Barrett Browning pioneered this form. See also crown of sonnets for longer linked sequences.
Also Known As
Extended sonnet Twenty-eight line sonnet Paired fourteen-liner Coupled sonnet
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