The Sonnet

Sonnet Origins  Originated in Italy in the 13 th century  The word sonnet comes from Italian word sonetto meaning “little song”  Petrarch, an Italian poet, perfected the Italian sonnet; called the Petrarchan sonnet

Sonnet Origins  Introduced in England almost 500 years ago by Sir Thomas Wyatt who slightly modified the Italian form  Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, further modified the rhyme scheme  The English sonnet ultimately became known as the Shakespearean sonnet  Shakespeare mastered the sonnet form and broadened its content

A sonnet is  a lyric poem  consists of fourteen lines  written in iambic pentameter  follows a definite rhyme scheme  has a definite thought structure

A lyric poem FFFFocus is on personal thoughts, emotions, and feelings CCCCentral themes –I–I–I–Idealized love –U–U–U–Unrequited love UUUUsed figurative language related to nature

Iambic pentameter consists of  five meters or “beats” in a poetic line  iambs

An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable U followed by an accented syllable /. U / U / a gain U / U / U / U / im mor tal ize

Iambic pentameter U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U /  One day I wrote her name u pon the strand, U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U /  But came the waves and wash ed it a way: U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U /  A gain I wrote it with a sec ond hand, U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U / U /  But came the tide, and made my pains his prey  Edmund Spenser, Amoretti, Sonnet

Rhyme scheme  Petrarchan (Italian) rhyme scheme: abba, abba, cd, cd, cd abba, abba, cd, cd, cd abba, abba, cde, cde abba, abba, cde, cde  Shakespearean (English or Elizabethan) rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg Spenserian (English) rhyme scheme: interlocking abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee

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 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. W. Shakespeare A B A B C D C D E F E F G G

Thought structure  Italian (Petrarchan) form is octave/ sestet The octave, eight lines, presents a situation or idea. A volta or turn occurs The sestet (sextet), six lines, responds, to the situation or idea in the octave.

Thought Structure EEEEnglish (Shakespearean and Spenserian) form is quatrain, quatrain, quatrain, couplet Each quatrain, four lines, describes an idea or situation which leads to a conclusion or response in the couplet, two lines.

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 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. W. Shakespeare Each quatrain describes the ways in which the summer’s day is inferior to the beloved. The couplet contains the sonneteer’s main message or theme

Sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. W. Shakespeare The diction of the octave implies the speaker’s self-pity and depression. The sestet’s diction, in contrast, is joyful.

Sonnet 73 That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou see'st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed, whereon it must expire, Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well, which thou must leave ere long. W. Shakespeare 1 st Quatrain Year - Fall 2 nd Quatrain Day - Twilight 3 rd Quatrain Fire - Coals “This” is ll.1-12

Sonnet 73 The speaker is Part of life lived The whole of life in the fall of his life the spring and summer the year in the twilight of the day the morning and noon the day In the glowing coals The ashes of youth hour Q1Q2 Q3 Year Day Hour Time is rapidly shortening. That time is running out is what the beloved perceives.

Strategies for Reading  Read the sonnet several times.  Label the rhyme scheme at the end of each line.  Identify major thoughts/feelings.  Describe the initial situation in the first part of the sonnet.  Paraphrase the speaker’s conclusions about or reactions to the situation.  Pay attention to imagery and figurative language for emotional clues.