Here are the rules: It must consist of 14 lines. It must be written in iambic pentameter (duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH). It must be written in one of various standard rhyme schemes.
If you're writing the most familiar kind of Sonnet, the Shakespearean, the rhyme scheme is this:
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
Every A rhymes with every A, every B rhymes with every B, and so forth. You'll notice this type of sonnet consists of three quatrains (that is, four consecutive lines of verse that make up a stanza or division of lines in a poem) and one couplet (two consecutive rhyming lines of verse).
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