question archive Which of these is characteristic of a Spenserian sonnet? addressed to a dear friend addressed to a "Dark Lady" reflects a search for spiritual satisfaction abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme
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Which of these is characteristic of a Spenserian sonnet?
addressed to a dear friend
addressed to a "Dark Lady"
reflects a search for spiritual satisfaction
abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme
Answer: abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme
Explanation: The principal characteristic of a Spenserian sonnet is abab bcbc cdcd ee rhyme scheme. A sonnet is a fixed verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme. It has its origins in Italian poetry. The Spenserian sonnet uses the English squeme of three quatrains and a couplet, but ressembles the Italian sonnet in its rhyming squeme. Sometimes Spenser had to invert the usual word order to keep the squeme.