Unit 3: Renaissance. Sonnets

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1 Unit 3: Renaissance Sonnets

2 Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar. Percy Bysshe Shelley <skip intro>

3 What is poetry? Poetry is a genre of literature that uses imaginative and musical language to communicate experiences thoughts or emotions

4 How are poetry and prose similar? Both poetry and prose use imagery and figurative language to paint a picture for readers. Both poetry and prose use precise language to convey a tone, viewpoint, or perception of an object or experience.

5 How are poetry and prose different? Poetry compresses meaning into fewer words. Poetry often uses meter, rhyme, lines, and stanzas. Poetry allows more freedom in the ordering of words and use of punctuation.

6 Who are your favorite British poets? William Shakespeare Percy Bysshe Shelley Elizabeth Barrett Browning Christina Rossetti William Wordsworth Carol Ann Duffy William Butler Yeats T. S. Eliot

7 What are the purposes of poetry? To entertain readers To enlighten readers by sharing the human experience To provide readers with insight into themselves and others To help readers experience joy, inspiration, comfort, gratitude, redemption, or strength To unite readers in a common understanding

8 The Art of Poetry Poetry is one of the world s oldest art forms. Literary historians have traced the origins of poetry to religious scripture. For example, many early epics, such as Beowulf, contain religious elements. Early epics were usually recited or sung, thus giving voice to poetry.

9 The Art of Poetry Poetry has survived the centuries because of its ability to convey emotions and images.

Poetry The Rising Popularity of Poetry is becoming popular among teenagers as a powerful and expressive art form can be viewed on social networking

10 Poetry The Rising Popularity of Poetry is becoming popular among teenagers as a powerful and expressive art form can be viewed on social networking sites, blogs, and other websites can be heard in classrooms, public transit stations, bookstores, coffeehouses, clubs, films, TV shows, and even urban streets

11 Sonnet A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem. Like other types of lyric poetry such as odes, elegies, and ballads a sonnet expresses the emotions of a speaker often has an intimate, meditative quality

12 A Sonnet is a moment s monument, Memorial from the Soul s eternity To one dead deathless hour. Dante Gabriel Rossetti How effective is this metaphor in capturing the appeal of the sonnet?

13 The Roots of Sonnets Many readers associate the sonnet with the Romantic poets of England. However, the roots of the sonnet actually lie in thirteenth-century Italy. Italian poets Giacomo da Lentini, Dante Alighieri, and Guido Cavalcanti wrote hundreds of sonnets during this time.

14 Francesco Petrarch and the Sonnet The most famous sonneteer, however, was Italian poet and scholar Francesco Petrarch. Petrarch is credited with creating a sonnet form that is still being used today. This form is called the Petrarchan sonnet.

15 Francesco Petrarch and the Sonnet Petrarch dedicated more than 300 sonnets to an idealized woman named Laura. Laura may have been Laura de Noves, a woman who was married to, and had children with, another man. Laura de Noves died of the plague in Laura was a symbol for the poet, a means through which to express the sentiments associated with courtly love.

16 The Introduction of Sonnets in England The sonnet was introduced in England at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Poets Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, modified the Petrarchan sonnet to suit the English language.

17 William Shakespeare and the Sonnet Although Wyatt and Howard are credited with creating the English sonnet, William Shakespeare popularized this new poetic form. Shakespeare wrote more than 150 sonnets in his lifetime, mainly about his relationships with others.

18 William Shakespeare and the Sonnet Shakespeare s modification of the Italian sonnet became popular among later poets. For that reason, the English sonnet is more commonly known as the Shakespearean sonnet.

19 Sonnet Sequences Both Petrarch and Shakespeare wrote sonnet sequences. A sonnet sequence is a series of sonnets that typically have a unifying subject or theme. The sonnets are often connected by the repetition of lines. The last line of the initial sonnet is the first line of the subsequent sonnet.

20 Subjects of Early Sonnets Conventional subjects of early Italian and English sonnets included the joys and frustrations of love the appreciation of beauty in nature the expression of spiritual beliefs and personal philosophies the complexities of relationships

21 Language Conventions of Early Sonnets Sonnets, particularly those of the Renaissance period, often employ conceits. A conceit is an elaborate and fanciful analogy or metaphor. For example, a typical Petrarchan conceit contains an individual who is agonizing over unrequited love uses hyperbole to compare the object of affection to a physical object in nature (such as an ocean)

22 Language Conventions of Early Sonnets Conceits were often overly dramatic and even absurd at times. Because of this, they were largely ignored by the Romantic poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

23 Musicality of Sonnets Sonnets are a highly musical form of verse. The musicality of a sonnet is created by a combination of several poetic devices: a regular rhythmic pattern an established rhyme scheme diction that provides certain sound qualities (assonance, consonance, or alliteration)

24 Poetic Structure of Sonnets The emotional and lyrical qualities of sonnets contradict their rigid poetic structure. A poetic structure refers to how a poet arranges lines on a page. Expressing emotions within the confines of a firm poetic structure has challenged many poets over the centuries.

25 Poetic Structure of Sonnets The poetic structure of a sonnet consists of fourteen lines an organized, thematic stanza structure a pattern of end rhyme a regular rhythmic pattern The following slides will examine these forms and structures in more detail.

Shakespearean sonnet (also known as the Elizabethan or English sonnet)

26 Forms of Sonnets To review, the two main sonnet forms are the Petrarchan sonnet (also known as the Italian sonnet) and the Shakespearean sonnet (also known as the Elizabethan or English sonnet) Although the two forms share many similarities, they each have distinct characteristics.

27 Structure of a Petrarchan Sonnet The Petrarchan sonnet provides a clear example of how form creates meaning. The Petrarchan sonnet follows a particular thematic stanza structure: an octave (eight-line stanza) that presents a problem or raises an argument and a sestet (six-line stanza) that addresses, explores, or resolves the problem

28 Structure of a Petrarchan Sonnet Because there is an abrupt shift of ideas between the first and second stanzas, line 9 plays a pivotal role in a Petrarchan sonnet. Line 9 is called the sonnet s volta it signals a turn in the thoughts or emotions that are expressed in the poem.

29 Example of a Petrarchan Sonnet In the sonnet on the next slide, Petrarch reflects on the hundreds of sonnets that he wrote expressing his unrequited love for Laura. In this sonnet, try to identify the problem (in the octave) the resolution (in the sestet) the volta that bridges the ideas the overall tone of the sonnet

Example of a Petrarchan Sonnet O ye who in these scattered rhymes may hear The echoes of the sighs that fed my heart In errant youth, for I was then, in part Another man

30 Example of a Petrarchan Sonnet O ye who in these scattered rhymes may hear The echoes of the sighs that fed my heart In errant youth, for I was then, in part Another man from what I now appear, If you have learned by proof how Love can sear, Then for these varied verses where I chart Its vain and empty hope and vainer smart Pardon I may beseech, nay, Pity s tear. For now I see how once my story spread And I became a wonder to mankind So in my heart I feel ashamed alas, That nought but shame my vanities have bred, And penance, and the knowledge of clear mind That earthly joys are dreams that swiftly pass. from O ye who in these scattered rhymes may hear (Sonnet 1), by Petrarch

31 Rhyme Scheme of a Petrarchan Sonnet The Petrarchan sonnet also follows a certain rhyme scheme, or pattern of end rhyme. Rhyme scheme is designated by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each end rhyme. The rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet is abbaabba cdecde (or cdedce or cdcdcd).

32 William Wordsworth and the Petrarchan Sonnet William Wordsworth is one of many poets whose sonnets follow the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet. The next slide shows the rhyme scheme of one of Wordsworth s most famous sonnets.

Rhyme Scheme of a Petrarchan Sonnet The world is too much with us; late and soon, a Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: b Little we see in Nature that is ours; b We have

a This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; a The winds that will be howling at all hours, b And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; b For this, for every thing, we are out of

33 Rhyme Scheme of a Petrarchan Sonnet The world is too much with us; late and soon, a Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: b Little we see in Nature that is ours; b We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! a This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; a The winds that will be howling at all hours, b And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; b For this, for every thing, we are out of tune; a It moves us not. Great God! I d rather be c A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; d So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, c Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; d Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; c Or hear old Triton blow his wreathéd horn. d from The World Is Too Much with Us, by William Wordsworth

34 Popularity of the Petrarchan Sonnet The Petrarchan sonnet is the most commonly used sonnet form among poets. Aside from Wordsworth, other British poets who wrote Petrarchan sonnets include John Milton Charlotte Smith John Keats Elizabeth Barrett Browning Dante Gabriel Rossetti MILTON

35 Structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet The Shakespearean sonnet also provides a clear example of how form creates meaning. The Shakespearean sonnet is divided into four parts: three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a final couplet (two-line stanza)

36 Structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet Like a Petrarchan sonnet, a Shakespearean sonnet has its own distinct thematic stanza structure: the first quatrain typically introduces the subject the second and third quatrains expand on the subject or present a conflict the final couplet offers a conclusion or resolution

37 Structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet The volta, or turning point, in a Shakespearean sonnet may occur between lines 8 and 9 (the transition from the second to the third quatrain) or between lines 12 and 13 (the transition from the third quatrain to the final couplet)

38 Example of a Shakespearean Sonnet In the sonnet on the next slide, Shakespeare takes a realistic view of love. This view is quite different from the idealized notion of love in Petrarch s sonnets. In this sonnet, try to identify the subject (in the first quatrain) the explanations (in the second and third quatrains) the location of the volta the overall tone of the sonnet

Example of a Shakespearean Sonnet My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be

I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

39 Example of a Shakespearean Sonnet My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. from My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun (Sonnet 130), by William Shakespeare

40 Rhyme Scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet Like the Petrarchan sonnet, the Shakespearean sonnet follows a certain rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg.

41 John Keats and the Shakespearean Sonnet John Keats is one of many poets whose sonnets follow the structure of the Shakespearean sonnet. The next slide shows the rhyme scheme of one of Keats s most famous sonnets.

Rhyme Scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet When I have fears that I may cease to be a Before my pen has glean d my teeming brain, b Before high piled books, in charactry, a Hold like rich garners the

42 Rhyme Scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet When I have fears that I may cease to be a Before my pen has glean d my teeming brain, b Before high piled books, in charactry, a Hold like rich garners the full ripen d grain; b When I behold, upon the night s starr d face c Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, d And think that I may never live to trace c Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance; d And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, e That I shall never look upon thee more, f Never have relish in the fairy power e Of unreflecting love! then on the shore f Of the wide world I stand alone, and think g Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink. g from When I Have Fears, by John Keats

43 Popularity of the Shakespearean Sonnet Aside from Keats, other British poets who wrote Shakespearean sonnets include Charlotte Smith Sir Philip Sidney Michael Drayton SMITH

44 Sir Edmund Spenser and the Sonnet A lesser known sonnet form is the Spenserian sonnet, created by sixteenth-century poet Sir Edmund Spenser. Spenser s sonnet form blended elements of the Petrarchan sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet. SPENSER

45 Structure of the Spenserian Sonnet A Spenserian sonnet follows the stanza structure of a Shakespearean sonnet: three quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a final couplet (two-line stanza) However, Spenserian sonnets use the rhyming links of Petrarchan sonnets to connect the three quatrains. Therefore, the rhyme scheme of a Spenserian sonnet is abab bcbc cdcd ee.

46 Iambic Pentameter and Sonnets Petrarchan, Shakespearean, and Spenserian sonnets are traditionally written in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter means that the lines are formed using five iambs. An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, such as in the word insist. insist

47 Iambic Pentameter and Sonnets Sonnets are often written in iambic pentameter because this type of meter mimics the natural rhythm of spoken English. The combination of iambic pentameter and an established rhyme scheme enhances the musicality of the verse.

Scansion and Iambic Pentameter To analyze the iambic pentameter of a sonnet, readers can use scansion. Scansion is the analysis of a rhythmic structure using a system of symbols.

48 Scansion and Iambic Pentameter To analyze the iambic pentameter of a sonnet, readers can use scansion. Scansion is the analysis of a rhythmic structure using a system of symbols. The example below shows the use of scansion. / / / / / If this be err or and upon me proved, / / / / / I ne ver writ, nor no man ev er loved. from Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet 116), by William Shakespeare

49 SUMMARY: Sonnets After reading a sonnet, ask yourself: What is the poetic form of the sonnet: Petrarchan, Shakespearean, Spenserian, or another variation? What is the subject of the sonnet? How does the thematic stanza structure develop the subject? Where is the volta, and how does it change the direction and tone of the sonnet? What is the rhyme scheme, and how does it provide musicality to the verse?

Browse poets.org for more poetry or additional information

Poetry Packet: I Browse poets.org for more poetry or additional information HAIKU A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing