Difference between Occitan and Petrarchan Sonnets?

Occitan is a language (a form of Medieval French) and while it is possible that the Sonnet was originally an Occitan invention, there is no special Occitan sonnetform.

The first full development of the Sonnet was during the Italian Renaissance, and Petrarch was the most famous sonnetteer of this period.

The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet has fourteen lines with a shift of point of view between lines 8 and 9 which is called the 'volta'. The sonnet thus has two clearly separated movements: the Octave and the Sestet.

The usual rimepattern for a Petrarchan sonnet is ABBA ABBA CDE CDE. You can vary this a bit (especially the sequence in the sestet) but the change of viewpoint between octave and sestet is crucial.

The later English or Shakespearian sonnet also has fourteen lines, but this time they are arranged into three four line Quatrains with a two line Couplet at the end. The Quatrains will usually develop an idea, which is then summed up by the Couplet at the end.

So the Big Difference between Italian and English sonnets is that the Italian sonnet is a two-part poem (Octave + Sestet) while the English sonnet has four parts (Quatrain, Quatrain, Quatrain, Couplet).

A typical rimescheme for an English sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

• though many other patterns are found.