The sonnet: {student notes What do you already know about the sonnet? Brainstorm a list on the right. What is a Sonnet? Almost always consists of ____________ lines and follows one of several set rhyme schemes: #1 _________________________________
#2 _________________________________ #3 _________________________________ They share the following characteristics: formal ______________________________ _______________________________ Specific divisions by _________________ Sonnets (cont.) While watching, try to answer the following questions. Write your answers to the right.
What is poetic meter? What is a foot? What is the stress pattern of an iamb? What is iambic pentameter? Why did poets like Shakespeare like using iambic pentameter? What is iambic pentamete r? Four divisions are used: Three ________________________
Each with a rhyme scheme of its own, usually rhyming alternating lines. And a rhymed concluding __________________. The typical rhyme scheme is __________________________ English Sonnets (Shakespearean) 1st quatrain: 2nd quatrain: 3rd quatrain:
Final couplet: English/Shakesperean Sonnet 138 or When My Love Swears that She is Made of Truth When my love swears that she is made of truth a I do believe her, though I know she lies, b That she might think me some untutor'd youth, a Unlearned in the world's false subtleties. b Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, c Although she knows my days are past the best, d Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: c On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd. d But wherefore says she not she is unjust? e And wherefore say not I that I am old? f
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust, e And age in love loves not to have years told: f Therefore I lie with her and she with me, g And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be. g - William Shakespeare {First quatrain; note the puns and the intellectual games: [I know she lies, so I believe her so that she will believe me to be young and untutored]} {Second quatrain: [Well of course I know that she doesn't really think I'm young, but I have to pretend to believe her so that she will pretend that I'm young]}
{Third quatrain: [so why don't we both fess up? because love depends upon trust and upon youth]} {Final couplet, and resolution: [we lie to ourselves and to each other, so that we may flatter ourselves that we are young, honest, and in love]. Note especially the puns. Sonnet 18 Italian Sonnets (Petrarchan Named after Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), the Italian poet
The octave typically: Presents a ____________________ States a ______________________ Or raises a ____________________ The sestet: ______________________________ ________________________________
or _____________________________ or _____________________________ Italian (Petrarchan Sonnet) Octave (8): usually ____________ ______________________________ usually rhymes abbaabba but which may sometimes be abbacddc or even (rarely) abababab Sestet (6): executes a
___________ at the beginning of the sestet. may rhyme xyzxyz or xyxyxy, or any of the multiple variations possible using only two or three rhyme-sounds. Farewell Love and all thy laws for ever, a Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more; b Senec and Plato call me from thy lore b To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavour. a In blind error when I did persever, a Thy sharp repulse, that pricketh aye so sore, Hath taught me to set in trifles no store
b And scape forth, since liberty is lever. a Therefore farewell; go trouble younger hearts And in me claim no more authority; d With idle youth go use thy property d And thereon spend thy many brittle darts. c For hitherto though I have lost all my time, e Me lusteth no longer rotten boughs to climb. - Wyatt Devonshire (1557) Farewell Love and all thy laws for ever
b c e Sonnet XLIII (Edna St. Vincent Millay) What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning; but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before: I cannot say what loves have come and gone, I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more. The Spenserian sonnet, invented by Edmund Spenser, complicates the Shakespearean form, linking rhymes among the quatrains:
Abab bcbc cdcd ee there does not appear to be The Spenserian Sonnet is very rare among modern poets. Spenserian Sonnet When reading a sonnet, pay close attention to the following:
The Sonnet You can see how this form would attract writers of great technical skill who are fascinated with intellectual puzzles and intrigued by the complexity of human emotions, which become especially tangled when it comes to dealing with the sonnet's traditional subjects, love and faith.
The Sonnet Read When I Have Fears Divide into sonnet parts Paraphrase each part Read Death be Not Proud p. 971 (Perrines textbook)
Answer 1, 2, 3, 4 HomeworkDue Wed. Now its your turn. Write an original sonnet, following the Petrarchan or Shakespearean style. A sonnet can be helpful when writing about emotions that are difficult to articulate. It is a short poem, so there is only so much room to work in. As well, the turn
forces the poet to express what may not be normally expressible. Hopefully, you'll find yourself saying things you didn't know you were going to say, didn't know you could say, but that give you a better understanding of the emotions that drive the writing of the poem. The turn usually takes care of itself somehow, and the more the writer worries about it, the more difficult it will be to reach. As with any poem, let the structure guide you, not vice versa. If you allow the feel and movement of the sonnet to take the poem to the next line, the turn will happen and the sonnet will be well on its way to being complete. The Sonnet
