SOME KEY POETIC FORMS English 4 AP Ms. Reyburn
SPENSERIAN SONNET You have already reviewed Petrarchan sonnet (octave/sestet abbaabba-ccdeed) volta/turn generally at line 9 Shakespearean sonnet (3 quatrains/couplet abab-cdcdefef-gg) volta/turn generally at line 9. The first poet known to modify Petarch s form, Sir Edmund Spenser kept the structure but introduced an abab-bcbc-cdcd-ee rhyme scheme. The volta may seem to be at line 9, but is generally truly before the final couplet. Generally written in iambic pentameter.
FROM AMORETTI EDMUND SPENSER (C. 1552-1599) What guile (sly intelligence) is this, that those her golden tresses She doth attire under a net of gold; And with sly skill so cunningly them dresses, That which is gold or hair, may scarce be told? Is it that men s frail eyes, which gaze too bold, She may entangle in that golden snare; And being caught may craftily enfold Their weaker hearts, which are not yet well aware? Take heed therefore, mine eyes, how ye do stare Henceforth too rashly on that guileful net, In which if ever ye entrapped are, Out of her bands ye by no means shall get. Folly it were for any being free, To covet fetters (restraints), though they golden be. 1. What does Spenser compare the lure of this woman to? 2. What is Spenser saying about women and relationships? 3. Is there a clear turn in this poem?
TERZA RIMA A poetic form of interlocking tercets first used by Dante Alighieri. ABA BCB CDC DED There is no set length to this form. Generally written in iambic pentameter Traditionally ends with a couplet or single line
ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT BY ROBERT FROST 1874 1963 I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, One luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.
RHYME ROYAL 7 line poem in this rhyming structure: ABABBCC Generally written in iambic pentameter Popularized by Chaucer Called royal because James I from Scotland used it in his verse Popular for long narrative poems in the 15 th and 16th centuries Can be split into a tercet and two couplets or a quatrain and a tercet
THEY FLEE FROM ME BY SIR THOMAS WYATT 1503-1542 They flee from me that sometime did me seek With naked foot, stalking in my chamber. I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek, That now are wild and do not remember That sometime they put themself in danger To take bread at my hand; and now they range, Busily seeking with a continual change. Thanked be fortune it hath been otherwise Twenty times better; but once in special, In thin array after a pleasant guise, When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall, And she me caught in her arms long and small; Therewithall sweetly did me kiss And softly said, Dear heart, how like you this? It was no dream: I lay broad waking. But all is turned thorough my gentleness Into a strange fashion of forsaking; And I have leave to go of her goodness, And she also, to use newfangleness. But since that I so kindly am served I would fain know what she hath deserved. 1. What does the image, bread at my hand suggest about the poet s attitude toward women? 2. How does the balance of power change in the second stanza? 3. A hart was a deer in this time. How might this change the meaning of dear heart in line 14?
LIMERICK Often in anapestic meter (short, short, long) Generally five line stanza (quintet) Strict rhyme scheme: AABBA Appeared in early years of 18 th century Humorous themes, sometimes obscene Varied line length Person and place generally introduced in first line
A LIMERICK ON LIMERICKS! Writing a Limerick's absurd, Line one and line five rhyme in word, And just as you've reckoned They rhyme with the second; The fourth line must rhyme with the third.
EDWARD LEAR There was a Young Person of Smyrna Whose grandmother threatened to burn her. But she seized on the cat, and said 'Granny, burn that! You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!'
YOUR TURN Write your own limerick!