Sonnets Edmund Spenser

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• Leerjaar 5

Renaissance

Sonnets

Edmund Spencer 

William Shakespeare

Which motto means ' remember that you are mortal'

1. carpe diem
2. ad fontes
3. memento mori
4. carpe vinum

Which motto was te motto of the Renaissance?

1. carpe diem
2. memento mori
3. a bene placito
4. cave canum

Which wife did not belong to Henry VIII?

1. Anne Boleyn
2. Catherine of Spain
3. Jane Austen
4. Catherine Howard

In which century did the Renaissance start in England?

1. 14th century
2. 16th century
3. 15th century
4. 17th century

Middle Ages

The Renaissance

Geoffrey Chaucer

Humanism

Memento mori

invention of printing

Courtly love tradition

theocentric

culture

anthropocentric

culture

Sonnets

- What is a sonnet?

- What parts are in a sonnet?

Introduction

• Sonetto, Italian for "little song" or "little sound"
• Lyrical poem of 14 lines 
• Sonnet is used to investigate a problem, conflict, desire, etc.
• Specific rhyming pattern (e.g. abba-abba)
• Specific meter (stressed versus unstressed syllables) 
• Sonnets contain a volta = a moment in the sonnet where the rhyming scheme changes, as well as the subject matter 

Petrarchan Sonnet

• Named after Francesco  Petrarca (1304-1374)
• Also referred to as the Italian Sonnet
• 14 lines of the poem are divided as such:
  Octave (8 lines): abba-abba
  Sestet (6 lines): cde-cde OR cd-cd-cd
• Octave's purpose is to introduce a problem, desire, wish, etc.
• Sestet introduces the volta, signalled by change in rhyme 

Shakespearian Sonnet

• Popularized by Shakespeare (1564-1616), even though the Petrarchan sonnet style was extremely popular at the time! 
• 14 lines of the poem are divided as such:
  Three quatrains (4 lines):  abab, cdcd, efef
  One couplet (2 lines): gg 
• The quatrains introduce the problem/theme and explore it
• The volta is found in the couplet, which resolves the theme

Shakespearian Sonnet (ctd.)

• Sonnet's meter is predominantly an iambic pentameter.
• Each line consists of 10 syllables in total
• Syllables are divided into 5 pairs, called iambs / iambic feet.
• An iamb is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
  When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME (sonnet 12)

Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

Shakespeare - Sonnet 73

Take a look at sonnet 73 by Shakespeare and answer the following questions: 

1. Which rhyme scheme is used? 

2. In which line does the 'volta' start? How can you tell? 

Shakespeare - Sonnet 73

Answers: 

1. Sonnet 73 is a Shakespearean sonnet. This means that the poem has three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet. It has an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme and it is composed in iambic pentameter

Shakespeare - Sonnet 73

Answers: 

 The volta occurs in line 13. "This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong." The theme of the sonnet is the idea that although with the passage of time and the inevitability of death, it is important to cherish the time we have on Earth with those we love.

Alquin

Read through pages 14 and 20-21 (Edmund Spenser)