<P> The octave and sestet have special functions in a Petrarchan sonnet . The octave 's purpose is to introduce a problem , express a desire , reflect on reality , or otherwise present a situation that causes doubt or a conflict within the speaker 's soul and inside an animal and object in the story . It usually does this by introducing the problem within its first quatrain ( unified four - line section ) and developing it in the second . The beginning of the sestet is known as the volta , and it introduces a pronounced change in tone in the sonnet ; the change in rhyme scheme marks the turn . The sestet 's purpose as a whole is to make a comment on the problem or to apply a solution to it . The pair are separate but usually used to reinforce a unified argument -- they are often compared to two strands of thought organically converging into one argument , rather than a mechanical deduction . Moreover , Petrarch 's own sonnets almost never had a rhyming couplet at the end as this would suggest logical deduction instead of the intended rational correlation of the form . </P>
<P> The octave and sestet have special functions in a Petrarchan sonnet . The octave 's purpose is to introduce a problem , express a desire , reflect on reality , or otherwise present a situation that causes doubt or a conflict within the speaker 's soul and inside an animal and object in the story . It usually does this by introducing the problem within its first quatrain ( unified four - line section ) and developing it in the second . The beginning of the sestet is known as the volta , and it introduces a pronounced change in tone in the sonnet ; the change in rhyme scheme marks the turn . The sestet 's purpose as a whole is to make a comment on the problem or to apply a solution to it . The pair are separate but usually used to reinforce a unified argument -- they are often compared to two strands of thought organically converging into one argument , rather than a mechanical deduction . Moreover , Petrarch 's own sonnets almost never had a rhyming couplet at the end as this would suggest logical deduction instead of the intended rational correlation of the form . </P>
where does the volta occur in english and italian sonnets
where does the volta occur in english and italian sonnets
The beginning of the sestet
The beginning of the sestet