Renaissance Poetry

Targets Identify the structure and themes of Renaissance poetry Recognize the impact of a renewed interest in Greek and Roman classics on Renaissance poetry Identify/analyze the structure and themes of English (Shakespearean) and Italian (Petrarchan) sonnets Identify/analyze figurative language and other poetic techniques used in Renaissance poetry

Spiritual and Devotional Writings Despite the turmoil of the age, England remained a Christian nation Literature reflected Christian beliefs King James Bible For centuries, the Church resisted translating the Bible into the language of the common people; feared heresy and challenges to Church authority 1604 – James I commissioned (and authorized) 54 biblical scholars to translate Bible into English based on Greek, Hebrew, and Latin translations Remains one of the most important pieces of English writing

Paradise Lost Written by Puritan poet John Milton 493 Paradise Lost Written by Puritan poet John Milton Epic blank-verse poem Influenced by King James Bible Based on biblical story of Adam and Eve who are tempted by Satan to eat from the Tree of Knowledge Language is meant to evoke reverence for religious themes Conveys intense emotion through use of figurative language

Pastoral Poems Portrays shepherds and rustic life, usually idealized Speakers used courtly language, rather than common speech Have formal meters and rhyme schemes Sometimes used as a tool to analyze society of court (safely)

Reading and Analyzing Poetry T – Consider the title. Predict what the poem might be about based on the title. P – Paraphrase the poem in your own words. Work with complete sentences and thoughts. C – Consider the connotation and denotation of words, figurative language, and imagery. A – Identify the speaker. Notice the tone (attitude) of the speaker towards the subject. S – Take note of any shifts in tone. T – Return to title and modify your initial prediction. T – State what the poem is about (subject) and what the poet is saying about the subject (theme).

Pastoral Poems “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Christopher Marlowe, page 314 “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” Sir Walter Raleigh, page 316

Origins of the Sonnet Italian word meaning “little song” Introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt 14 line lyric poem Formal rhyme scheme Defined structure (versification and meter) Three types: Petrarchan Sonnet Shakespearean Sonnet Spenserian Sonnet

Petrarchan / Italian Sonnet Background Named for Francesco Petrarch Wrote 366 poems, mostly sonnets focused on “Laura” Themes of love: unrequited, desperate, eternal, and tragic Structure 1 Octave + 1 Sestet 8 lines + 6 lines Situation + Resolution Rhyme Scheme: abbaabba cdecde abbaabba cdcdcd

Sonnet 90 Francesco Petrarch Upon the breeze she spread her golden hair that in a thousand gentle knots was turned and the sweet light beyond all radiance burned in eyes where now that radiance is rare; and in her face there seemed to come an air of pity, true or false, that I discerned: I had love's tinder in my breast unburned, was it a wonder if it kindled there? She moved not like a mortal, but as though she bore an angel's form, her words had then a sound that simple human voices lack; a heavenly spirit, a living sun was what I saw; now, if it is not so, the wound's not healed because the bow grows slack. 336

Shakespearean / English Sonnet Background Originally called the English Sonnet William Shakespeare mastered the form Themes of love and beauty, as well as philosophical topics and ironies (Shakespeare) Structure 14 line poem Meter: iambic pentameter 3 Quatrains + 1 Couplet Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg The “turn” or shift occurs in the 3rd quatrain or final couplet

Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 326

Spenserian Sonnet Named for Edmund Spenser Influenced by Chaucer Wrote sequence Amoretti “little love poems” Variation on the English sonnet Interlocking Rhyme Scheme: abab bcbc cdcd ee Each quatrain  addresses poem’s central idea Final couplet  provides an answer or summation

Sonnet 30 Edmund Spenser My love is like to ice, and I to fire: how comes it then that this her cold so great is not dissolv'd through my so hot desire, but harder grows, the more I her entreat? Or how comes it that my exceeding heat is not delayed by her heart frozen cold, but that I burn much more in boiling sweat, and feel my flames augmented manifold? What more miraculous thing may be told that fire, which all thing melts, should harden ice: and ice which is congealed with senseless cold, should kindle fire by wonderful device? Such is the pow'r of love in gentle mind that it can alter all the course of kind. 320

Cavalier Poets Inspired by Ben Jonson and “sons of Ben” 526 / 532 Inspired by Ben Jonson and “sons of Ben” Named for their allegiance with Charles I in civil war against Puritans and Cromwell Imitated the graceful forms of classical works; rejected the extravagance of Elizabethan lyrical writing Lighthearted, charming, witty, sometimes cynical styles Dealt with limited, human-focused subjects Themes: love, war, chivalry, loyalty to the throne, and carpe diem (“seize the day”) philosophy

Reading and Analyzing Poetry T – Consider the title. Predict what the poem might be about based on the title. P – Paraphrase the poem in your own words. Work with complete sentences and thoughts. C – Consider the connotation and denotation of words, figurative language, and imagery. A – Identify the speaker. Notice the tone (attitude) of the speaker towards the subject. S – Take note of any shifts in tone. T – Return to title and modify your initial prediction. T – State what the poem is about (subject) and what the poet is saying about the subject (theme).

Metaphysical Poets Represented by John Donne Broke with convention to produce intensity: Unusual imagery Elaborate and extended metaphors (conceit) Irregular meter Addressed the vastness of the universe and explored the complexities of contradictions of life Themes: death, physical love, religious devotion 517

Reading and Analyzing Poetry T – Consider the title. Predict what the poem might be about based on the title. P – Paraphrase the poem in your own words. Work with complete sentences and thoughts. C – Consider the connotation and denotation of words, figurative language, and imagery. A – Identify the speaker. Notice the tone (attitude) of the speaker towards the subject. S – Take note of any shifts in tone. T – Return to title and modify your initial prediction. T – State what the poem is about (subject) and what the poet is saying about the subject (theme).