Ms. Pitcher
English 1
Happy, ye leaves! when as those lilly handsWhich hold my life in their dead-doing mightShall handle you, and hold in loves soft bands,Lyke captives trembling at the victors sight.And happy lines! on which, with starry light.Those lamping eyes will deigne sometimes to look,And reade the sorrowes of my dying spright,And happy rymes! bath'd in the sacred brookeOf Helicon, whence she derived is.When ye behold that Angels blessed looke,My soules long-lacked food, my heavens blis,Leaves, lines, and rymes, seeke her to please alone,Whom if ye please, I care for other none!
The sonnet:
A fourteen line lyric poem with a singletheme.
Each line in the sonnet is usually iniambic pentameter –five groups of twosyllables, each with the accent on thesecond syllable.
Sonnets take definitive form.
Types of sonnets
1.) Petrarchan
2.) Spenserian
3.) Shakespearean
Sonnet Sequence
In a sonnet sequence, the onehundred or so sonnets are linked bytheme or person addressed.
As you read each sonnet, try todetermine what links each one.
Common Sonnet Themes
The speaker in love- some sonnets mayexplain the depth of his love, while othersmay praise his beloved.
His love is unfilled (unrequited love)-poems may dramatize his hopes anddisappointments or analyze the nature oflove.
Petrarchan Sonnet
Divided into an eight-line octave,rhyming abba abba followed by a six-line sestet, rhyming cdecde
Often, the octave poses a problem thatis answered in the sestet.
Spenserian Sonnet
Rhymes abab bcbc cdcdee
Named after EdmundSpenser
Shakespearean Sonnet
Uses three quatrains, or four line stanzas
A rhyming couplet- often a dramaticstatement that resolves, restates, orredefines the central conflict of the poem.
Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg
Our Approach to Sonnets:
We will use the chart on the following slide whenstudying sonnets.
Please do not lose this. A large portion of your Q2exam is based on identifying and analyzing sonnets!
Sonnet Characteristics Chart
Sonnet Title:
Number of Lines:
Number of Stanzas:
Number of Lines per Stanza:
Rhyme Scheme:
Sonnet Type:
Summary:
•Beginning
•Middle
•End
Sonnet Theme: