Petrarch, Spenser, and Shakespeare Sonnets Petrarch, Spenser, and Shakespeare

Francesco Petrarch 1304-1374 B. Arezzo, Italy Poet, Scholar and Humanist during the Italian Renaissance His sonnets became a model of poetic form for all of Europe

Petrarchan Sonnet Form Consists of two parts: Octave (8 lines) Introduces a problem or situation which leads to conflict or doubt in the reader Introduced in the 1st quatrain and developed in the 2nd quatrain Volta The turn, or transition, between the two main parts. Found at the beginning of the Sestet. Sestet (6 lines) Comments on or proposes a solution to the problem put forth in the Octave

Petrarchan Sonnet Form Written in Iambic Pentameter A 10 syllable line in which stresses alternate and there were 5 stressed and 5 unstressed syllables in each line Stresses and caesuras are marked on the Keats’ line below: ˘ / To swell the gourd, and plump ha- zel shells

Petrarchan Sonnet Form Sonnets have a strict rhyme scheme Octave: Only one option a b b a a b b a Sestet: Many options in Petrarchan Sonnets c d c d c d c d d c d c c d e c d e c d e c e d c d c e d c c d e d c e

Petrarch Sonnet 3 It was on that day when the sun’s ray Was darkened in pity for its Maker That I was captured, and did not defend myself, Because your lovely eyes had bound me, Lady. It did not seem to me a time to guard myself Against Love’s blows: so I went on Confident, unsuspecting; from that, my troubles Started, amongst the public sorrows. Era il giorno ch’al sol si scoloraro Per la pieta del suo factore i rai, Quando i’ fui preso, et non me ne guardai, Che i be’ vostr’occhi, donna, mi legaro. Tempo non mi parea da far riparo Contra colpi d’Amor: pero m’andai Secur, senaa sospetto; onde I miei guai Nel commune dolor s’incominiciaro

Petrarch Sonnet 3 Trovommi Amor del tutto disarmato Et aperta la via per gli occhi al core, Che di lagrime son fatti uscio et varco: Pero al mio parer non li fu honore Ferir me de saetta in quello stato, A voi armata non mostrar pur l’arco. Love discovered me all weaponless, And opened the way to the heart through the eyes, Which are made the passageways and doors of tears: So that it seems to me it does him little honour To wound me with his arrow, in that state, He not showing his bow at all to you who are armed.

“London, 1802” - Wordsworth ABBAABBACDDECE Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart; Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, So didst thou travel on life's common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

Edmund Spenser 1552ca-1599 B. London, England Attended Cambridge and earned a master’s degree. Spent most of his life in Ireland and his poetry was greatly influenced by his time there. Apparently died in poverty.

Spenser - Major Works The Faerie Queen, an epic poem that tells the stories of six knights, each of whom represent a moral virtue. Amoretti, the only Renaissance sonnet sequence that celebrates a happy relationship that ends in marriage.

Spenserian Sonnets Still 14 lines Broken into 4 parts 3 quatrains 1 rhyming couplet Also written in iambic pentameter ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / My love is like to ice, and I to fire

Interlocking Rhyme Scheme Spenserian sonnets are unique in the rhyme scheme. Quatrain 1: a b a b Quatrain 2: b c b c Quatrain 3: c d c d Rhyming Couplet: e e

Content Each quatrain addresses the poem’s central idea, thought, or question. The couplet provides an answer or a summation. The volta occurs in line 13 at the beginning of the rhyming couplet.

Sonnet VII Fayre eyes! The myrrour of my mazed hart, B C D E Fayre eyes! The myrrour of my mazed hart, What wondrous vertue is contaynd in you, The which both lyfe and death forth from you dart, Into the object of your might view? For, when ye mildly looke with lovely hew, Then is my soule with life and love inspired: But when ye lowre, or looke on me askew, Then doe I die, as one with lightning fyred. But, since that lyfe is more then death desyred, Looke ever lovely, as becomes you best; That your bright beams, of my weak eies admyred, May kindle living fire within my brest. Such life should be the honor of your light Such death the sad ensample of your might.

William Shakespeare c. 1564-1616 b. Stratford-upon-Avon, England Playwright, Poet, Actor Most famous for his plays All but 2 of his 154 sonnets were published in 1609

Shakespearean Sonnets 1609 Quarto only source of most 152 Shakespearean Sonnets. There are 3 categories of poems in this Quarto: 1-126 are addressed to The Fair Youth 127-152 are addressed to The Dark Mistress A Lover’s Complaint a 329 line poem written in Rhyme Royal

Shakespeare’s Addressees The Fair Youth (sonnets 1-126) An unnamed young man Written to in loving and romantic language Some suggest this may be a homosexual love, others find support that it is platonic, or father-son love The Dark Lady (sonnets 127-152) Given this name because of she is described as being dark haired The sonnets written about her express infatuation and are more sexual in nature

Shakespearean Sonnet Form Still 14 lines Broken into 4 parts 3 quatrains 1 rhyming couplet Written in iambic pentameter: ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Shakespearean Sonnet Form Rhyme Scheme: Quatrain 1: a b a b [introduces question] Quatrain 2: c d c d [tentative Quatrain 3: e f e f answers] Rhyming Couplet: g g [final answer] Volta: The turn or transition in line 9 which marks a shift in focus or thought

Sonnet 18 ABAB CDCD 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 too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

Sonnet 18 EFE F G But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, 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. Sonnet 18 EFE F G

Sonnet 18 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 too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, 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.