Sonnets: Fourteen Lines With a Rhyme to Prove
A sonnet is fourteen lines with a strict rhyme scheme. This checker tests the Shakespearean pattern against your poem's line endings.
What is the Sonnet Checker?
Paste a poem and the tool counts its lines and checks the last-word endings against a Shakespearean ABAB CDCD EFEF GG pattern. This is a heuristic check on endings, not a true rhyme or metre judge — read the poem aloud for a final verdict.
How to use it
- Paste your fourteen-line poem.
- Click Check Sonnet.
- Read it aloud to judge rhyme and metre.
Worked example
The sample poem has 14 lines and matches the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG ending pattern by the heuristic.
What rhyme scheme does a Shakespearean sonnet use?
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG: three quatrains of alternating rhyme, closed by a rhyming couplet.
Frequently asked questions
Is the check exact?
No, it compares last-word endings as a heuristic; true rhyme and iambic metre need a human reading.
Are there other sonnet forms?
Yes, the Petrarchan sonnet uses an octave and sestet, typically ABBAABBA CDECDE.