Sonnets

Poetry and __Form__: The Sonnet

Sonnet XII By Franceso Petrarch

If my life find strength enough to fight  the grievous battle of each passing day,   that I may meet your gaze years from today,   lady, when your eyes have lost their light,   and when you golden curls have turned white,   and vanished are your wreaths and green array,   and when your __youthful__ hue has fled away,   whose beauty makes me tremble in its sight,   perhaps then Love will overcome my fears   enough that I may let my secret rise   and tell you what I've suffered for all these years;   and if no flame be kindled in your eyes,   at least I may be granted for my tears   the __comfort__ of a few belated sighs.

How many lines are in this poem?

How many syllables are there per line?

What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

What is the subject of this poem?

What is the speaker of this poem trying to express?

The word SONNET comes from the Italian sonetto, meaning "a little sound or song ." For more than seven hundred years, poets have used these highly structured fourteen-line poems to explore such __ deeply felt issues as the fleeting nature of love and the aching questions of morality. __  [|Francesco Petrarch](1304-1374)
 * Popularized the sonnet
 * Wrote about [|Laura]
 * Unrequited love



The Italian Sonnet :
 * Often referred to as the Petrarchan sonnet
 * Theme is usually unrequited love
 * First eight lines (called an octave) __present__ a problem or a situation.
 * Octave has the rhyme scheme: abbaabba
 * The last six lines (called a sestet) provide an answer or resolution to the problem.
 * Sestet follows cdecde or cdcdcd
 * The switch from the problem to the resolution is called the "turn."

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)


 * Diplomat for __King__ Henry VIII
 * Imprisoned and faced execution twice during his reign
 * Traveled to France, Italy, and Spain as a diplomat
 * Experienced the Italian Renaissance - came into contact with sonnets and Petrarch
 * Brought sonnet __form__ back to England
 * Circulated handwritten copies of poems among fellow courtiers
 * 97 seven of his poems published by Richard Tottel after his death.

Whoso List to Hunt Sir Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list (//desires//) to hunt, I know where is an hind (//female deer//), But as for me, alas, I may no more. The vain travail (//hard __work__//) hath wearied me so sore I am of them that farthest comest behind. Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore, Fainting (//growing weak//) I follow. I leave off therefore, Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Whoso list her hunt, I put him out of doubt (I assure him that he), As well as I, may spend his time in vain. And graven (carved) with diamonds in letters plain There is written, her fair neck round about, "[|Noli me tangere]," for Caesar's I am, And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

[|King Henry VIII]was married six times. Anne Boleyn was his second wife and secretly married him in 1533 while he was still married to Catherine of Aragon.
 * Points of Interest: **
 * Tradition said that Wyatt wrote "Whoso List to Hunt" about the beautiful lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn. Wyatt had been attracted to Boleyn before King Henry VIII married her, imprisoned her, and finally had her beheaded on charges that she was unfaithful to him. Although she failed to give Henry a son, their daughter grew up to become the powerful Queen Elizabeth I.
 * According to a story from Petrarch, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) kept tame or pet deer that wore collars around their necks inscribed with the words //noli me tangere//, meaning "touch me not. "

1. Activity: Paraphrase the lines of the poem

[|Questions Below] Answer the following questions: What is the rhyme scheme?

In the first stanza, how does the speaker characterize his hunting of the hind? What can you tell about the speaker's feelings from the stanza?

What advice does the speaker give to others who want to hunt the hind? Based on the Background about Wyatt and Anne Boleyn, why might the speaker give such advice?

Is the deer hunting an effective image to convey the speaker's feelings? Explain.

[[http://www.search-results.com/fr?q=sir+edmund+spenser&desturi=http%3A%2F%2Fpersonal.centenary.edu%2F%7Esbeaver%2Fengl%2F241%2Fspenserbio.html&initialURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.search-results.com%2Fpictures%3Fatb%3Dsysid%253D426%253Aappid%253D151111%253Auid%253De2059b9440f8f092%253Auc%253D1330803177%253Asrc%253Dhmp%253Ao%253DAPN10198%253Aq%253Dking%252520henry%252520viii%26imgc%3Dboth%26imgs%3D1p%26l%3Ddis%26o%3DAPN10198%26q%3Dsir%2520edmund%2520spenser%26qsrc%3D2417&fm=i&ac=516&fsel=1&ftURI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.search-results.com%2Ffr%3Fq%3Dsir%2Bedmund%2Bspenser%26desturi%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpersonal.centenary.edu%252F%257Esbeaver%252Fengl%252F241%252Fspenserbio.html%26imagesrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpersonal.centenary.edu%252F%257Esbeaver%252Fengl%252F241%252Fspenser2.jpg%26thumbsrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia3.picsearch.com%252Fis%253FOHfAsz8uFnxFimS5-B65NIS38dvK4m0DUiv_OVFGb2U%26o%3DAPN10198%26l%3Ddis%26thumbuselocalisedstatic%3Dfalse%26thumbwidth%3D121%26thumbheight%3D128%26fn%3Dspenser2.jpg%26imagewidth%3D275%26imageheight%3D289%26fs%3D18%26f%3D2%26fm%3Di%26fsel%3D1%26atb%3Dsysid%253D426%253Aappid%253D151111%253Auid%253De2059b9440f8f092%253Auc%253D1330803177%253Asrc%253Dhmp%253Ao%253DAPN10198%253Aq%253Dking%252520henry%252520viii%26ftbURI%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.search-results.com%252Fpictures%253Fimgc%253Dboth%2526q%253Dsir%252Bedmund%252Bspenser%2526page%253D1%2526o%253DAPN10198%2526l%253Ddis%2526pstart%253D0%2526atb%253Dsysid%25253D426%25253Aappid%25253D151111%25253Auid%25253De2059b9440f8f092%25253Auc%25253D1330803177%25253Asrc%25253Dhmp%25253Ao%25253DAPN10198%25253Aq%25253Dking%25252520henry%25252520viii&atb=sysid%3D426%3Aappid%3D151111%3Auid%3De2059b9440f8f092%3Auc%3D1330803177%3Asrc%3Dhmp%3Ao%3DAPN10198%3Aq%3Dking%2520henry%2520viii%26atb%3Dsysid%253D426%253Aappid%253D151111%253Auid%253De2059b9440f8f092%253Auc%253D1330803177%253Asrc%253Dhmp%253Ao%253DAPN10198%253Aq%253Dking%252520henry%252520viii&qt=0|Sir Edmund Spenser]]: [|Examples of Poems:] Spenserian Sonnet
 * Three quatrains (group of four lines, with each containing its own rhyme scheme)
 * Question or the problem is found in the first three quatrains
 * One couplet (a group of two lines)
 * Quick summary or solution is found in the couplet
 * Rhyme scheme is abab bcbc cdcd ee
 * Spenser makes a key point or comment in the final couplets.

[|Links to poems] __ Sonnet 30 __ My love is like to ice, and I to fire; How come it then that this her cold so great It is not dissolv'd through my hot desire, But harder it grows the more I her entreat (//beg//)?

Or how come it that my exceeding heat Is not delayed (//lessened)// by her heart frozen cold, But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, And feel my flames augmented manifold (//increased greatly//)?

What more miraculous thing may be told, That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice, And ice, which is congealed (//hardened//) with senseless cold, Should kindle fire by wonderful device?

Such is the power of love in gentle mind, That it can alter all the course of kind (nature ).

[|Sonnet 30 questions]

1. To what does the speaker compare his beloved's feelings? To what does he compare his own? What do these comparisons indicate about the speaker's feelings and the way the speaker's beloved feels about him?

2. Paraphrase the question the speaker asks in lines 5-8. What does this question indicate about the speaker's love?

3. What paradox, (statement that appears to be contradictory but is actually true, either in fact or a figurative sense)or contradiction, does the speaker pint out in lines 9-12?

[|Examples of paradox] [|More Examples] 4. At what point in this sonnet does the poet answer or resolve the problem described? What is his anser to the questions he asks?

5. In your opinion, is the speaker talking simply about romantic love, or cold these images also express a more general them? Explain.

__ Sonnet 75 __

One day I wrote her name upon the strand (//beach//), But came the waves and washed it away; Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay //(try//)," A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke (//also//) my name be wiped out likewise," "Not so," quod (//said//) I, "let baser things devise (//__plan__//) To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtures rare shall eternalize (//make eternal//), And in heavens write your glorious name, Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew."

[|Sonnet 75 questions]

1. What happens to the name the speaker writes in the sand? What does the speaker do then ?

2. How does the speaker's beloved respond to what happens? What do you think she means by what she says?

3. How does the speaker answer his loved one? How do his views about immortality differ from hers? Support your response with details from the poem?

4. What does the end of the sonnet suggest about the power of poetry?

5. In your opinion, whom has time proved to be more correct - the speaker or the woman?Explain your response.

Comparing and Contrasting: 1.Assuming these two sonnets are about the same speaker and woman, how has their relationship changed between Sonnet "30" and "Sonnet 75?" Use evidence from the poems to support your answer.

2. In what ways do people today try to achieve immortality?

3. Which poem says more about the power of love?