RENAISSANCE SONNETS

RENAISSANCE SONNETS

ELIZABETHAN PLEASURES AND

SORROWS

Ball at court (16th century)

Nicholas Hilliard, Young Man among Roses. ca.1587

Where is the young man standing?What are the flowers?How is he dressed?Where is is right hand?What do his face and body express?What social class does he belong to?

RENAISSANCE POETRY: THE SONNET

DESIRE FORUNATTEINABLE

WOMEN

DESTRUCTIVEEFFECT OF TIME

BEAUTY

FRIENDSHIP

LOVE

THEMES

INFLUENCES

DANTE AND PETRARCH PROVIDED A SET OF CONVENTIONS THE ENGLISH POETS COULD VARY

THE LADY

Giorgione, Laura, ca1550.

“ Think you,if Laura had been Petrarch’s wife, he would have written sonnets all his life?” Lord Byron in Don Juan (1812-1824)

Beautiful but cruel

Idealised figure influenced by Plato’s philosophy

We get no insight into her feelings but only into the poet’s interior world

Her beauty is mortal and fades with the passing of time

PARADOX

THE POET WISHES A LADY BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE HOPES SHE WILL NOT SURRENDER

HE HAS CONFLICTING FEELINGS:

GREAT HAPPINESS VS DEEP DESPERATION

DELIGHT VS PAIN/JEALOUSY

THE SONNET

IMPORTED TO ENGLAND(1580-1610)

TRANSFORMED INTO

ELIZABETHAN SONNET

THE ITALIAN SONNET

(PETRARCHAN)

ITALIAN SONNET: 1 OCTAVE + A SESTET

ABBAABBA

CDECDE

PRESENTATION OF AN ISSUE OR A SITUATION

SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OR PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

8TH/9TH LINE: TURNING POINT

CRIN D’ORO CRESPO (Pietro Bembo)

Crin d’oro crespo e d’ambra tersa e pura

Ch’a l’aura su la neve ondeggi e vole,

Occhi soavi e più chiari che ‘l sole,

Da far giorno seren la notte oscura,

Riso,ch’acqueta ogni aspra pena e dura,

Rubini e perle,ond’escono parole

Sì dolci, ch’altro ben l’alma non vole,

Man d’avorio,che i cor ristringe e fura,

Cantar ,che sembra d’armonia divina,

Senno maturo a la più verde etade,

Leggiadria non veduta unqua fra noi,

Giunta a somma beltà somma onestade,

Fur l’esca del mio foco, e sono in voi

Grazie , ch’a poche il ciel largo destina

ELIZABETHAN SONNET: 3 QUATRAINS AND 1 COUPLET1 ST QUATRAIN A

B A B

2ND QUATRAIN C D C D

3RD QUATRAIN E F E F

FINAL COUPLET G ( THE CONCLUSION ADDS AN G EPIGRAMMATIC TONE)

THE ELIZABETHAN SONNET

WAS IMPORTED TO ENGLAND BY SIR THOMAS WYATT AND BY THE EARL OF SURREY

THE FAVOURITE INSTRUMENT OF THE POETS OF QUEEN’S ELIZABETH’S COURT

IS A MORE FLEXIBLE FORM

IT ALLOWS:

TO USE THE TWELVE LINES TO DEAL WITH A SUBJECT, THEN CONFIRM OR DENY IT IN THE FINAL COUPLET

TO DEVELOP THE CONTENT AS IN THE PETRARCHAN SONNET BUT WITH A DIFFERENT SET OF RHYMES

TO PRODUCE THREE DIFFERENT ARGUMENTS OR EXAMPLES AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS IN THE FINAL RHYMING COUPLET

THE COUPLET TENDS TO BE EPIGRAMMATIC AND WITTY IN TONE