Sonnets - introduction

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Sonnets

- What is a sonnet?

- What parts are in a sonnet?

- Analyzing sonnets

Index

1. Introduction
2. Petrarchan sonnet 
3. Shakespearian sonnet
4. Donne (Holy 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)

Shakespearian Sonnet

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 dimm'd 

And every fair from fair sometime declines 

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd

But they 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 

John Donne - "Death, Be Not Proud"

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but they pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

and soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest  of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than they stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

John Donne

• In groups (2-3), answer the following questions:
  - What is the rhyming scheme of "Death, be not proud"?
  - Is "Death, be not proud" an example of a Petrarchan sonnet or a Shakespearian sonnet? Explain your answer.
  - Does the poem use iambic pentameter? Explain your answer.
  - Where does the volta begin? Explain your answer.
  - What is the meaning of this sonnet? Use ~50 words.

Figures of speech 

1. Metaphor: een vergelijking zonder 'like' of 'as'
2. Simile: een vergelijking met 'like' of 'as'
3. Personification: een dier, object of idee menselijke eigenschappen toekennen.
4. Synecdoche: een deel van iets gebruiken om het geheel aan te geven (bijv. 'hands' --> workers) 
5. Apostrophe: een 'absent' of 'imaginary person' direct aanspreken 
6. Alliteratie: dezelfde beginklank meerdere keren op een rij (bijv. "Lotje leerde Liesje lopen langs de lange Lindelaan")

Hand out Sonnet

In groups (2-3), answer the following questions:

- What is the rhyming scheme of "Death, be not proud"?

- Is "Death, be not proud" an example of a Petrarchan sonnet or a Shakespearian sonnet? Explain your answer.

- Does the poem use iambic pentameter? Explain your answer.

- Where does the volta begin? Explain your answer.

- What is the meaning of this sonnet? Use ~50 words.