Paul Oppenheimer

Open AccessArticle by 1,* and 2,3 1 Department of Philosophy, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand 2 Department of Philosophy, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia 3 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Of variable rhyme scheme and meter, sonnets are sometimes structured into stanzas of an octet and a sestet or of three quartets and a concluding couplet. They are normally fourteen lines long, though always with a concluding volta, the rhetorical turn that gives the sonnet its reputation for surprise, rigor, and elegance. In lyric intensity, in density of imagery and turn of phrase, a sonnet is instantly recognizable.