sonnets “little sounds” of love. think of all the stories you’ve heard about people getting...
TRANSCRIPT
Think of all the stories you’ve heard about people getting asked out…
What is the most creative way you can remember? Explain the details.
What was done? What was said?
What is a sonnet?
-14 line poem
-has a set rhyme scheme (pattern of rhymes)
-originally written as “love songs” to women
-women represent ideals (love, purity, etc.)
-Nowadays, a sonnet can explore many themes besides love
Sonnet: “little sounds” (Italian)
13th Century Sicily: poets writing love songs
in the Courts of Frederick II (Holy Roman Emperor)
“Courtly Love”: builds on concept of chivalry
“Courtly Love”
Expressing love for an IDEALIZE woman
Woman on a pedestal
admired from a distance
rarely spoken to
symbolizes abstract virtues
Dante’s Obsession from AfarLoves, Beatrice, but never talked to her…
Beatrice dies…
Dante dedicates the rest of his life to “honoring her” with his poetry
Gives her a sacred place
Acts as his guide through Paradise
Petrarch: Honoring Laura
-Petrarch sees Laura (in Avignon, France)
-Love at first sight
-She refuses him (because she’s married)
-She dies
-He channels his love for her into sonnets
Petrarch’s Il Canzoniere (1374)
1st great sonnet sequence: collection of sonnets that form a loose story
-central theme: love of Laura
-sonnets explore questions…
- “What is the virtue of love?”
- “Why do I desire love if it’s painful?!?!”
Petrarch’s “Song Book”
-Started a trend (all across Europe)
-In the courts, aristocratic men wrote sonnets
usually to…
-woe women
-express ideals
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet
14 lines
Octave (8 lines): develops a theme
Sestet (6 lines): expands or contradicts theme
“When I consider How My Light is Spent” by John MiltonWhen I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world wide,And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bentTo serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lets he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to preventThat murmur soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait
ABBA OctaveABBACDE SestetCDE
English (Shakespearean) Sonnets
□ Quatrains may develop separate metaphors □ Closing couplet can either confirm or go
sharply against the prior lines. □ The volta comes in line 13 usually—
sometimes in line 9