Literature 3 Amoretti Sonnet 75

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Literature 1

Road Map

English literature - Lesson 2

Edmund Spenser - Amoretti Sonnet 75

• Context of Edmund Spenser
• Language and vocabulary 
• Literary aspects
• Reader experience
  

Lesson goal

At the end of this class you are able to:

• analyse a sonnet;
• describe the use of literary  tools in the work;
• recognise Edmund Spenser's context;
• place the work of Spenser in the greater context of English literature;
• describe the content and meaning of the sonnet discussed.

Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Edmund Spenser

(1552 - 1599)

Context

• Edmund Spenser
• 1552 - 1599
• family of cloth makers
• fan of Virgil and Homer
• Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio
• Other works: The Faerie Queene, The Shepheardes Calender

What do you know about ....

the Renaissance / Early Modern Period?

Context

• Queen Elizabeth I
• Absolute monarchy
• Church of England
• War with Spain
• Ireland 

From 1580 until his death Spenser lived in Ireland as a secretary to the Lord Deputy. He acquired quite some land and property there, which strengthened his position among the gentry. 

'I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too' (Elizabeth I - 'Speech at Tilbury', 1588). 

Language

Take a look at the lyrics:

What stands out?

vocabulary,

perspective, tone, style

Literary language 

Rhyme 

Spenserian sonnet

Turn - volta

Spenserian: in last 2 lines, turn

abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Petrarchan 8 - 6: after line 8 

abba abba cde cde/cdcdcd

Shakespearean 3 quatrains and a couplet

abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Iambic pentameter

A metrical form in which most lines consist of five 'iambs', a unit of rhythm (a 'foot') in poetry consisting of two syllables. The first one is unstressed, the second one stressed. 

One day / I wrote / her name/ upon / the strand

but came / the waves / and wash / ed it / away

Again / I wrote / it with / a se /cond hand

But came  / the tide / and made / my pains / his prey

Sonnet

A fixed verse form consisting of fourteen lines, usually in in iambic pentameter.

English sonnet: four quatrains (= 4 lines) and a couplet (=2 lines)

Italian sonnet: octave (= 8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines).

Literary language 

Explicit vs. implicit meaning

Spenserian: in last 2 lines, turn

abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Petrarchan 8 - 6: after line 8 

abba abba cde cde/cdcdcd

Shakespearean 3 quatrains and a couplet

abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Reading dairy

Note your experiences and ideas of Edmund Spenser's Amoretti, Sonnet 75

Homework

Find a sonnet, analyse its rhyme scheme and indicate what kind of a sonnet it is. 

Print it, (or write it down) bring it to class and add it to your diary. 

Lesson goal

At the end of this class you are able to:

• analyse a sonnet;
• describe the use of literary  tools in the work;
• recognise Edmund Spenser's context;
• describe the content and meaning of the sonnet discussed.