Originally, the Italian sonnet was divided into an octave of eight lines followed by a sestet of six lines. The octave rhymed a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. For the sestet there were two different possibilities, c-d-e-c-d-e and c-d-c-c-d-c. In time, other variants on this rhyming scheme were introduced. Typically, the ninth line created a shift, which signaled the change in the topic or tone of the sonnet.
In contrast, the English, or Shakespearean sonnet (named after Shakespeare, not because he was the first to write in this form, but because he was its most famous practitioner) consists of three quatrains of four lines and a couplet of two lines. The couplet generally introduced an unexpected sharp thematic or imagistic shift. This form is seen in much of Claude McKay's poetry, including the poem "America":
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,á
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,á
Stealing my breath of life, I will confessá
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!á
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,á
Giving me strength erect against her hate.á
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.á
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,á
I stand within her walls with not a shredá
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.á
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,á
And see her might and granite wonders there,á
Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,á
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
This poem follows the usual rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. The final couplet, however, rather than noting a thematic shift, seems to act as a generalization, or summing-up of the poem's theme in this instance. á
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