The Sonnet

DRIPPING SPRINGS H.S.ENGLISH III n MR. JEFF OLSEN

FALL 2013

Presentation designed by Jeff Olsen

A sonnet is

a lyric poem consisting of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter with a definite rhyme scheme and a question followed by a turn

that resolves the question

Origin and InfluenceItalian Francis Petrarch (1304-74),

wrote 317 of them, mostly to Laura, a merchant's wife whom he loved.

Early English sonnets are often adaptations of Petrarch’s format.

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42)translated many of Petrarch’s sonnets, and Sir Edmund Spenser (1552-99) is credited as being England’s first master of the style.

Origin and InfluenceWilliam Shakespeare

(1564-1616) wrote 154 sonnets between 1590 and 1609, many under commission during a plague.

Structural changes included a modified rhyme scheme and shift in organization.

A lyric poem

Generally deals with emotions, feelings or other matters of the heart

Iambic pentameter consists of

five measures, units, or meters, ofiambs

An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of

an unaccented syllable Ufollowed by an accented

syllable /.

U /a gain

U / U / im mor tal ize

Iambic pentameter

U / U / U / U / U / One day I wrote her name u(-)pon the strand, U / U / U / U / U / But came the waves and wash(-)ed it a way: U / U / U / U / U / A(-)gain I wrote it with a sec(-)ond hand, U / U / U / U / U / But came the tide, and made my pains his prey

Edmund Spenser, Amoretti, Sonnet 75

1 2 3 4 5

Rhyme scheme

Petrarchan (Italian) rhyme scheme: abba, abba, cd, cd, cd abba, abba, cde, cde

Shakespearean (English, or Elizabethan) rhyme scheme:

abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18Shall 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.

ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Thought structure

Octave/ sestetThe octave, eight lines, presents a

situation or idea.The sestet, six lines, responds, to the

situation or idea in the octave.

Quatrain, quatrain, quatrain, coupletEach quatrain, four lines, describes

an idea or situation which leads to a conclusion or response in the couplet, two lines.

Shakespeare’s 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.

The first three quatrains describe the ways in which the summer’s day is inferior to the beloved.

The couplet describes the ways in which the beloved is superior to the summer’s day.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak,--yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground; And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

1st Quatrain

presents problem

2nd Quatrainpresents more problem

3rd Quatrainpresents more problem

“Solution” is presented in the rhyming couplet

Anne Bradstreet

Born in England c. 1612, educated in spite of social norms and someone who enjoyed writing poetry, even as a child.

Wed to Simon Bradstreet, who was appointed to a position of authority and eventually served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Reflects in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” on the love they share, their faith and the hope their love will surpass earthly limits.

.

Anne Hutchinson

Born in England in 1592. Immigrated to Boston with her husband and

11 of her eventual 15 children in 1633 to follow the preachings of John Cotton.

Became embroiled in a controversy of a “covenant of grace” vs. the more commonly held belief of a “covenant of works.”

This is similar to the controversy that led to Martin Luther’s initiation of the protestant reformation.

Anne Hutchinson

Born in England in 1592. Immigrated to Boston with her husband and

11 of her eventual 15 children in 1633 to follow the preachings of John Cotton.

Became embroiled in a controversy of a “covenant of grace” vs. the more commonly held belief of a “covenant of works.”

This is similar to the controversy that led to Martin Luther’s initiation of the protestant reformation.

Anne Hutchinson Helped determine the question of whether

America would be a theocracy or a democracy by taking a stand against the Puritan church.

Was banished, and later killed in an Indian attack, but the seeds of discontent within the church had been planted.

To 19th century America she was a crusader for religious liberty, as the nation celebrated its new achievement of the separation of church and state. In the 20th century, she became viewed as an early feminist leader.