Love Song Think of a song that expresses what love means to you. Part 1: Write down the lyrics as much as possible from memory and/or paraphrase them. Part 2: Explain why this song is meaningful to you and your understanding of “love.” Select some favorite lines and/or words and explain why you like them.

Renaissance Poetry or Verse Courtly love poetry Pastoral poetry The sonnet

Love Song Pt. 2 Compare the two songs played in class. What is the tone of each? What kind of love, or what perception or truth about love, is being expressed? What was the purpose? What lines are especially effective or poetic?

All forms of lyric poetry The term lyric comes from the Greek word lyra, a musical instrument Refers to poems that were originally sung and accompanied by music Retain the form and musical quality of a song Usually short poems that express personal feelings

Can be contrasted with epic poetry Not long—usually short Not narratives—lyric poems don’t tell a story Not about a hero doing great nation-saving deeds About the internal, private thoughts and feelings of the individual Not written in 3rd person Written in the 1st person

Subject matter of lyric poems usually is love, loss of love, doomed love, unrequited love Later subjects expanded to include religious and philosophical themes, reflections on nature, mortality and the passing of time, youth, loss of youth, loss of innocence

A common feature is the refrain—a line or several lines that repeat throughout the poem, either exactly or with variations (similar to the chorus in a song) Made up of stanzas and lines Usually has a fixed rhyme scheme Usually has a regular meter, based on the number of syllables and stress

Meter Refers to the number and pattern of beats or stresses in a line of poetry In other words, it’s a way of describing rhythm Foot is a term used to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables There are 4 different “feet” or types of rhythm: Iamb--unstressed, stressed (galloping horse) Trochee--stressed, unstressed (beating heart) Anapest--unstressed, unstressed, stressed Dactyl--stressed, unstressed, unstressed

We can also talk about the number of feet in a line We can also talk about the number of feet in a line. Tetrameter=4 feet Pentameter=5 feet Hexameter=6 feet

Courtly Love Originated in the courts of medieval France Modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege or lord But this was a relationship between the knight and a courtly lady, a lady above him in status (usually the wife of the lord)

Courtly Love Idea of this relationship was an ennobling, ideal, platonic love (at least in the beginning) The knight’s love for the lady inspires him to heroic deeds (keeps him in line) Courtly love found its expression in the lyric poems sung by troubadours

Courtly love poetry A popular theme of such love poetry was unrequited love—love that is ignored or rejected. Usually the rejected lover is portrayed as desolate and anguished, totally in the power of the beloved.

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) A diplomat in the service of Henry VIII Traveled widely; responsible for bringing various forms of Italian lyric poetry to England

“My Lute, Awake” In the style of the native English dance song, a lively and forceful kind of verse written to be sung to the accompaniment of the lute

Queen Elizabeth 1533-1603 Daughter of Henry VIII & his second wife, Anne Boleyn Well-educated, well-read, multilingual & wrote poetry Queen of England for 45 years A glorious period in English history Known as the “Virgin Queen”; she never married

“On Monsieur’s Departure” Composed sometime between 1568 & 1570 Structure: Rhyme scheme: Meter: Speaker: Subject: Apostrophe: Paraphrase: Purpose: Tone: Figurative Language →Paradoxes:

Review How does “My Lute Awake” fit the characteristics of courtly love? How does “On Monsieur’s Departure”? Compare and contrast the portrayals of unrequited love in both poems. Think especially about the attitudes of the speakers, or the tone, of each poem.

Journal: Courtly Love After completing the Venn Diagram, answer the following questions: What are your overall impressions of courtly love? Do you see any influences from the courtly love tradition in our society today? How does the courtly view of love compare to how we see love, romance, and relationships today?

Pastoral Poetry Pastoral comes from the Latin word pastor, meaning “shepherd” Presents an idealized view of the life of shepherds and of country or rural life in general Common topics of pastoral poetry include love and seduction, the value of poetry itself, death & mourning, the corruption of the city vs. the “purity” of country life

Pastoral Paintings

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe Form/structure: Rhyme scheme: Meter/Rhythm: Speaker: Apostrophe: Purpose: Tone: Imagery: Figurative Language:

“The Nymph’s Reply” by Sir Walter Raleigh Form/structure: Rhyme scheme: Meter/Rhythm: Speaker: Apostrophe: Purpose: Tone: Imagery: Alliteration/Assonance/ Consonance:

Pastoral Ponderings Do the seasons and/or age affect how likely people are to fall in love? Do you believe an ideal love is possible? Does all love necessarily have its time when it must end? Who do you identify with more--the speaker of “The Passionate Shepherd” or the speaker of “The Nymph’s Reply”? Explain.

The Sonnet Length: 14-lines Subjects: of a lyrical nature—a focus on personal feelings and thoughts Meter: Iambic pentameter (lines containing 5 metrical units, each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) Structure and rhyme scheme: a particular structure and rhyme scheme, Patrarchan or Shakespearean Originated in Italy; comes from the Italian word meaning “little song” Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)—Perfected the Italian form of the sonnet

The Petrarchan Sonnet 2-part structure: an octave (8 lines) followed by a sestet (6 lines) The octave had an abbaabba rhyme scheme The sestet had a cdecde or a cdcdcd rhyme scheme Typically, the octave describes a problem or asks a question & the sestet gives the resolution to it The 9th line consists of a “turn,” signaling the move to a resolution or a change in tone or mood

The Sonnet The lovelorn Sir Thomas Wyatt (of “My Lute, Awake” fame) introduced the sonnet to the English court English poets modified the Italian form to better suit the rhyme-poor English language Though Shakespeare was not the first English poet to write sonnets, he used the form with such distinction that the English sonnet came to be known as the Shakespearian Sonnet

Shakespearian Sonnet 3 quatrains (4 lines) followed by a rhyming couplet (2 lines) Rhyme scheme is abba cdcd efef gg Meter is iambic pentameter

Shakespearian Sonnet The first quatrain introduces a situation, which is explored in the next two quatrains A turn, or shift in thought, occurs in the third quatrain or in the couplet The couplet often brings resolution and closure The couplet may be thought of as the “punch line”

Francesco Petrarch Born shortly after 1300 in Italy; died in 1374 Studied law, classics, & finally entered the service of the Church On Good Friday in April, 1327, he saw Laura for the first time Fell madly in love & proceeded to write 366 sonnets to her

Laura Not much is known about her but she is believed to have been Laura de Noves, a married woman Chances are they never even spoke She died in 1348 of the plague He died in 1374; many of the sonnets were written after her death

Edmund Spenser Born to a relatively poor London family but managed to work his way through Cambridge University Established literary connections there and began his poetic career Served the nobility throughout his life in whose households he met many other court writers who were promoting the new English poetry of the Elizabethan Age Experimented with verse forms His most famous work is the poetic romance titled The Faerie Queen

TP-CASTT Title Paraphrase Connotation (Figurative Language) Attitude/Tone Shifts (in speaker, tone or mood) Title (again) Theme

Title Ponder the title before reading the poem (what does it say to you, what associations come to mind, what predictions can you make about the poem)

Paraphrase Translate the poem into your own words

Connotation Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal level (look at word choice—which words have a very specific connotation—and look at use of figurative language

Attitude/Tone Observe both the speaker’s and the poet’s attitude (tone) toward his/her subject matter

Shifts Notice shifts in speakers and in attitudes

Title Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level

Theme Determine what the poet is saying