Home › Glossary › Letter M

Modified sonnet

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 sonnet that departs from traditional structure, rhyme scheme, or meter while retaining core sonnet characteristics

Detailed Definition
A modified sonnet retains core elements of the traditional form—14 lines, volta, thematic concentration—but alters rhyme scheme, meter, or structure to suit contemporary themes or voices; this adaptive approach honors sonnet tradition while allowing innovation, as seen in works by poets like Terrance Hayes or Wanda Coleman who reinvent the form for new contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
Modified sonnet alters traditional form, as in Gerald Manley Hopkins’ curtal sonnet “Pied Beauty”; In “Sonnet 130,” Shakespeare modifies Petrarchan idealization; Another: Wanda Coleman’s “American Sonnet” series uses free verse with sonnet-like intensity; Or sonnets with 13 or 16 lines instead of 14
Additional Notes
Modified sonnet retains core elements (14 lines, volta) but alters rhyme scheme, meter, or structure to suit contemporary themes; allows innovation while honoring tradition—common in 20th- and 21st-century poetry.
Also Known As
Irregular sonnet Contemporary sonnet Hybrid sonnet Altered sonnet Revised fourteen-liner
Skip to main content