Sonnets      ”A  sonnet  by  any  other  name  

would  sound  as  sweet…”

Pretest p  What is “iambic

pentameter?” n  A.) A single file line of five

people, each person with two feet.

n  B.) A ten syllable line, consisting of five iambic feet.

p  What is a “sonnet?” n  A.) a poem consisting 10

lines. n  B.) a poem consisting of

14 lines

p  What are the main types of sonnets? n  A.) English and Italian n  B.) Shakespearean and

Petrarchan n  C.) Both A and B.

p  What is a poetic “foot?” n  A.) the most important

line in the poem n  B.) The last line in a poem n  C.) A group of two

syllables.

Pretest continued p  Identify the following as true or false.

n  An Octave is a sentence with eight syllables. n  A Quatrain is a stanza of four lines. n  The sestet is found at the end of the sonnet. n  “Volta” is another name for the title. n  A couplet is a group of three lines.

What is a Sonnet? p A  very  structured  type  of  poetry  in  which  the  author  a9empts  to  show  two  related  but  differing  things  to  the  reader  in  order  to  communicate  something  about  them.

p Developed  in  Italy,  probably  in  the  thirteenth  century.

Sonnets (cont.)

p Almost  always  consists  of  fourteen  lines  and  follows  one  of  several  set  rhyme  schemes: n  English  (Shakespearean)   n  Italian  (Petrarchan) n  Spenserian

Sonnet Vocabulary

p Quatrain:   n  A  stanza  of  four  lines.    

p Octave: n  An  eight  line  stanza.  Used  primarily  to  denote  the  first  eight-­‐‑line  division  of  the  Italian  Sonnet  as  separate  from  the  last  six-­‐‑line  division,  the  sestet.

Vocab. (cont.) p  Sestet:

n  The  second  six-­‐‑line  division  of  an  Italian  Sonnet.  Following  the  eight-­‐‑line  division  (octave),  the  sestet  usually  makes  specific  a  general  statement  that  has  been  presented  in  the  octave  or  indicates  the  personal  emotion  of  the  author  in  a  situation  that  the  octave  has  developed.

p  Volta: n  The  turn  in  thought–  from  question  to  answer,  problem  to  solution–  that  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  the  sestet  (line  9)  in  the  Italian  sonnet.  Sometimes  occurs  in  the  English  sonnet  between  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  lines.  Marked  by  “but,”  “yet,”  or  “and  yet.”

Italian Sonnets (Petrarchan) p Distinguished  by  its  division  into  the  octave  and  sestet: n The  octave  rhyming  abbaabba

n The  sestet  rhyming  cdecde,  cdcdcd  or  cdedce

More on Italian Sonnets… p  The  octave  typically:

n  Presents  a  narrative n  States  a  preposition n  Or  raises  a  question

p  The  sestet:   n  drives  home  the  narrative  by  making  an  abstract  comment  

n  applies  the  preposition   n  or  solves  the  problem.

English Sonnets (Shakespearean) p  Four  divisions  are  used:

n  Three  quatrains   p Each  with  a  rhyme  scheme  of  its  own,  usually  rhyming  alternating  lines.

n  And  a  rhymed  concluding  couplet.   p  The  typical  rhyme  scheme  is

n  Abab  cdcd  efef  gg

English (cont.) p  each  quatrain  develops  a  specific  idea,  but  one  closely  related  to  the  ideas  in  the  other  quatrains.  

p Not  only  is  the  English  sonnet  the  easiest  in  terms  of  its  rhyme  scheme,  calling  for  only  pairs  of  rhyming  words  rather  than  groups  of  4,  but  it  is  the  most  flexible  in  terms  of  the  placement  of  the  volta.  Shakespeare  often  places  the  "ʺturn,"ʺ  as  in  the  Italian,  at  L9

Spenserian p  The  Spenserian  sonnet,  invented  by  Edmund  Spenser,  complicates  the  Shakespearean  form,  linking  rhymes  among  the  quatrains: n  Abab  bcbc  cdcd  ee n  there  does  not  appear  to  be  a  requirement  that  the  initial  octave  sets  up  a  problem  that  the  closing  sestet  "ʺanswers"ʺ,  as  is  the  case  with  a  Petrarchan  sonnet.  

p  The  Spenserian  Sonnet  is  very  rare  among  modern  poets.

Identify the Type of Sonnet p  The spring returns, the spring wind softly blowing Sprinkles the grass with gleam and glitter of showers,

Powdering pearl and diamond, dripping with flowers, Dropping wet flowers, dancing the winters going; The swallow twitters, the groves of midnight are glowing With nightingale music and madness; the sweet fierce powers Of love flame up through the earth; the seed-soul towers And trembles; nature is filled to overflowing… The spring returns, but there is no returning Of spring for me. O heart with anguish burning! She that unlocked all April in a breath Returns not…And these meadows, blossoms, birds These lovely gentle girls—words, empty words As bitter as the black estates of death!

Identify the Type of Sonnet p  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 dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; 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 growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.