Literature 3.1 Amoretti Sonnet 75

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Literature 1

Road map

Sonnet 75 - Edmund Spenser

Focus:

What is a sonnet - rhyme scheme

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.

Periods of British Literature

Renaissance = also called 'Early Modern Period'

Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Edmund Spenser

(1552 - 1599)

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

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. 

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).

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

Literary language 

Rhyme 

Spenserian / English sonnet

Turn - volta

Alliteration

Metaphor

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

In twos

Find out the rhyme scheme

Find an example of alliteration

Describe the metaphor

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

Language

Perspective: the speaker is in conversation with his loved one about his wish to immortalise her.

Style and tone: light, conversation-like. 

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 diary

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

Explicit meaning

De letterlijke betekenis van het gedicht: hij houdt zoveel van zijn geliefde dat hij haar graag onsterfelijk wil maken door haar naam en haar deugden vast te leggen. Eerst probeert hij dit te doen in het zand, maar als dat niet blijkt te werken, kiest hij ervoor ze in zijn gedicht(en) te benoemen. 

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

Implicit meaning

Niet de letterlijke betekenis, maar de betekenis die je eruit af kunt leiden, die onder de oppervlakte ligt.

De spreker zegt eigenlijk dat zijn gedichten de kracht hebben om iets voor eeuwig vast te leggen. Ze hebben eeuwigheidswaarde. 

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

Homework

Read 'The Shabbat'