Sonnets—Structure and Meaning (Sonnet Test on January 23th/24th)

Sonnets—Structure and Meaning (Sonnet Test on January 23th/24th)
Poetry Sonnets—Structure and Meaning (Sonnet Test on January 23th/24th)

Vocabulary for selected Shakespearean sonnets
temperate – mild; moderate; avoiding extremes scorn – refuse; reject by showing contempt summon – call; call up; call forth surly – unfriendly; sullen; difficult to get along with expire – die; come to an end impediments – obstacles; obstructions; hindrances reeks – having a strong, bad order

Poetic Forms – notes and literary terms
form – refers to the poem’s overall structure and shape fixed form – a poem that can be categorized by the patterns of its lines, meter, rhymes, and/or stanzas free verse – poems that do not conform to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza stanza – a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern (meter) and rhyme. meter – refers to the rhythm in a line of poetry, created by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables rhyme scheme – the pattern of end rhymes in a poem or its stanzas Note: rhyme scheme is indicated by assigning each end rhyme a letter (beginning with the letter “a”), then assigning any recurrence of that rhyme sound that same letter. Loveliest of trees, the cherry now a Is hung with bloom along the bough a And stands about the woodland ride b Wearing white for Eastertide b Now, of my threescore years and ten c Twenty will not come again c And take from seventy springs a score d It only leave me fifty more d

A Good Place to Begin – The Sonnet
Objectives: Be able to identify rhyme scheme Understand the basic structure of a Sonnet Be able to recognize both the Italian Sonnet form and English Sonnet form Analyze a variety of poems for meaning and method Understand and be able to duplicate the line meter of iambic pentameter Write a sonnet in the English form LAFS.1112.RL.2.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (i.e., poetic structure, fixed form and free form poetry) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

meter - refers to the rhythm in a line of poetry, created by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables

Rhythm and Rhyme Scheme
The lines of a sonnet are written in the specific meter (rhythm) of Iambic Pentameter – Five two-syllable sets The first syllable of each set is unstressed The second syllable of each set is stressed u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! Alone I walk through sleepless nights and days A u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! To see the stars so far beyond my reach B u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! I seek and pray that maybe through the haze A u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! The answers will appear that I beseech B The pattern is very regular throughout. Notice that all two syllable words – sleepless, beyond, maybe, answers, appear – are all placed properly to fit the format. Each multiple-syllable word follows the same accentuation it follows in a standard dictionary.

Consider the following phrases
Consider the following phrases. Which are written in iambic pentameter and which are not? If I had known the risk of love, no ‘Twas in the dark of civil war and crime. yes Is nature kind or mean to humankind? The holiday comes once a year. We ne’er again went to the beach because of what we witnessed there.

More Iambic Pentameter practice
If I had known how much my love would cost yes There never was a kinder man, more just My students love this poetry despite their protestations no I wonder what would happen if I should leave my home Could anyone have said a better thing? She hasn’t found the romance of life She hasn’t found the romance of her life

Your Turn Write a line … any line … (as long as it’s appropriate) in iambic pentameter. I’m going to collect them and read them aloud. (No, I won’t mention your name.)

meter - refers to the rhythm in a line of poetry, created by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables

Rhythm and Rhyme Scheme
The lines of a sonnet are written in the specific meter (rhythm) of Iambic Pentameter – Five two-syllable sets The first syllable of each set is unstressed The second syllable of each set is stressed u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! Alone I walk through sleepless nights and days A u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! To see the stars so far beyond my reach B u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! I seek and pray that maybe through the haze A u ! u ! u ! u ! u ! The answers will appear that I beseech B The pattern is very regular throughout. Notice that all two syllable words – sleepless, beyond, maybe, answers, appear – are all placed properly to fit the format. Each multiple-syllable word follows the same accentuation it follows in a standard dictionary.

And more practice Would wrap you up and carry you away yes There are no sharp objects in here no The padding of her strange white shoes Because I tried to steer the ball Her eyes were welded shut by mortal pain A birdcall and an early cricket I walk in blackness and I stumble and fall Yet in my heart she will not be forgot Might mark thy distant flight, to do thee wrong

Sonnet – a poetic form consisting of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter, and following a defined rhyme scheme Two Traditional Forms of the Sonnet: The Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet The English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet (The difference between the two is primarily a matter of internal structure and rhyme scheme with the limitation of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter)

The English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet: Organized into three quatrains followed by a couplet The concluding couplet is sometimes indented Typical rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg The four-part organization allows for thematic shifts or breaks, or the development of a theme through the progression of the three quatrains Typically, a problem or thematic issue is presented in the three quatrains Typically, some resolution of the problem or issue is presented in the concluding couplet Shakespeare wrote 150 sonnets during his life (at least that’s the number we still have). No wonder he had such an influence on the form in the English language that it often bears his name.

Rhyme Scheme Alone I walk through sleepless nights and days A
To see the stars so far beyond my reach; B I seek and pray that maybe through the haze A The answers will appear that I beseech. B I wonder where you are and what you do; C I wonder if you care and if you see D What I have done in life now without you. C Did I become the soul you thought I’d be? D I reach to touch the heart I know so well; E I squint to see the smile I hold so dear; F I hear your laughter in each ringing bell E And ponder are you far or are you near. F If I could take your place I think I might G Lift wing and slowly take off into flight. G Rhyme Scheme The rhyme scheme or pattern is ABABCDCDEFEFGG. There are seven different rhymes through the poem: days/haze reach/beseech do/you see/be well/bell dear/near might/fight

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, a And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c And often is his gold complexion dimmed; d And every fair from fair sometime declines, c By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed. d But thy eternal summer shall not fade, e Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st f Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, e When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. f So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. g

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, quatrain a And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c And often is his gold complexion dimmed; d And every fair from fair sometime declines, c By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed. d But thy eternal summer shall not fade, e Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st f Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, e When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. f couplet So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. g

English Sonnets ~English Sonnet Structure~
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 dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall Death brag thou wonder’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. First Quatrain Introduces an idea and begins its development Second Quatrain Continues to develop the idea of the first quatrain Third Quatrain Final idea development, then turn toward resolution Couplet Resolution or final thoughts on the issue of the poem

More about Sonnets Here’s a little review of English sonnets.

So … When you can tell you have an English sonnet, (and you’ll be able to tell from the rhyme scheme) use the structure of the poem to help you analyze it … quatrain, by quatrain, by couplet.

Italian Sonnet form A different rhyme scheme creates a different structure.

The Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet consists of one octave (a grouping of eight lines of verse) and one sestet (or two tercets). The octave follows a rhyme scheme of abba, abba to make up the first eight lines. The concluding sestet may follow various rhyme schemes, but common patterns are cdecde, cdcdcd, and cdccdc. Despite the name, poets writing in English have often chosen to follow the Italian form of the sonnet. Consider the following example:

“The World Is Too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth
The world is too much with us; late and soon, a Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; b Little we see in Nature that is ours; b We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! a This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; a The winds that will be howling at all hours, b And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; b For this, for everything, we are out of tune; a It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be c A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; d So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, c Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; d Have sights of Proteus rising from the sea; c Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. d

The world is too much with us; late and soon, a Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; b Little we see in Nature that is ours; b We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! a This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; a The winds that will be howling at all hours, b octave And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; b For this, for everything, we are out of tune; a It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be c A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; d So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, c Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; d sestet Have sights of Proteus rising from the sea; c Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. d

The octave of the poem introduces an idea or problem and develops that idea … …without resolution. The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sights of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. The final sestet provides the final thoughts or conclusion.

So … When you can tell you have an Italian sonnet, (and you’ll be able to tell from the rhyme scheme) you should analyze the poem in two parts … first the octave, then the sestet.

English Sonnet or Italian Sonnet? ~Rhyme Scheme~
... a summer’s day? a … more temperate. b … buds of May, a … short a date. b … heaven shines, c … complexion dimmed. d … sometime declines, c … course untrimmed. d ... not fade, e … thou owest, f … his shade e … though grow’st. f … eyes can see, g … life to thee. g … late and soon, a … waste our powers; b … that is ours; b … sordid boon! a … to the moon; a … at all hours, b … sleeping flowers; b … out of tune; a … I’d rather be c … creed outworn; d … pleasant lea, c … less forlorn; d … from the sea; c … his wreathed horn. d

English Sonnet or Italian Sonnet
English Sonnet or Italian Sonnet? ~Structure~ (the rhyme scheme differentiates the stanzas) English Italian ... a summer’s day? … more temperate. … buds of May, … short a date. … heaven shines, … complexion dimmed. … sometime declines, … course untrimmed. ... not fade, … thou owest, … his shade … though grow’st. … eyes can see, … life to thee. three quatrains followed by one couplet one octave followed by one sestet … late and soon, … waste our powers; … that is ours; … sordid boon! … to the moon; … at all hours, … sleeping flowers; … out of tune; … I’d rather be … creed outworn; … pleasant lea, … less forlorn; … from the sea; … his wreathed horn.

Edna St. Vincent Millay Sonnet XLIII (1923)
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning; but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my heart there sits a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before: I cannot say what loves have come and gone, I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more. Italian

“The Human Seasons” John Keats
Four seasons fill the measure of the year; Four seasons are there in the mind of man. He hath his lusty spring, when fancy clear Takes in all beauty with an easy span: He hath his summer, when luxuriously He chews the honied cud of fair spring thoughts, Till, in his soul dissolv’d, they come to be Part of himself. He hath his autumn ports And havens of repose, when his tired wings Are folded up, and he content to look On mists in idleness: to let fair things Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook. He hath his winter too of pale misfeature, Or else he would forget his mortal nature. English

Edna St. Vincent Millay I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed
I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind, Am urged by your propinquity to find Your person fair, and feel a certain zest To bear your body’s weight upon my breast: So subtly is the fume of life designed, To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind, And leave me once again undone, possessed. Think not for this, however, the poor treason Of my stout blood against my staggering brain, I shall remember you with love, or season My scorn with pity, – let me make it plain: I find this frenzy insufficient reason For conversation when we meet again. Italian

And what about this? Elizabeth Barrett Browning “How Do I Love Thee?” How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints--I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. Italian

William Shakespeare Sonnet 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou see’st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long. English

Emma Lazarus “The New Colossus” (1883)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Italian

Elizabeth Barrett Browning “My Letters. all dead paper, mute and white
And yet they seem alive and quivering Against my tremulous hands which loose the string And let them drop down on my knee to-night. This said, — he wished to have me in his sight Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring To come and touch my hand … a simple thing, Yet I wept for it! — this, … the paper’s light … Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed As if God’s future thundered on my past. This said, I am thine – and so its ink has paled With lying at my heart that beat too fast. And this … O Love, thy words have ill availed If, what this said, I dared repeat at last! Italian

Michael Drayton Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part; Nay, I have done, you get no more of me, And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart That thus so cleanly I myself can free; Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our brows That we one jot of former love retain. Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath, When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies, When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And Innocence is closing up his eyes, Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou mightst him yet recover. English

Mark Jarman “Unholy Sonnet” (1993)
After the praying, after the hymn-singing, After the sermon’s trenchant commentary On the world’s ills, which make ours secondary, After communion, after the hand-wringing, And after peace descends upon us, bringing Our eyes up to regard the sanctuary And how the light swords through it, and how, scary In their sheer numbers, motes of dust ride, clinging— There is, as doctors say about some pain, Discomfort knowing that despite your prayers, Your listening and rejoicing, your small part In this communal stab at coming clean, There is one stubborn remnant of your cares Intact. There is still murder in your heart. Italian

Sonnet 75 from Amoretti by Edmund Spenser
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tied, and made my pains his pray. "Vane man," Said she, "that doest in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I my self shall like to this decay, And eek my name be wiped out likewise." "Not so," quod I, "let baser things devise, To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew." ? Spenserian

Robert Frost “Acquainted with the Night”
I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, One luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right Neither English nor Italian

J. Thomas Son “Speaker, not Poet”
’Twas on a night in summer that I killed A man for nothing but a silver chain And pocketfuls of promise unfulfilled; He pleaded with my flashing knife in vain. Yet I would have his gold, as I had thought To find upon someone much better dressed Than I have ever been, and so we fought For trinkets and a picture wallet-pressed. With slippery hands I crept away alone, No richer than before I took his life; But angered by the waste of what I’d done, I kept the blood-stained image of his wife. The anguished look he gave me lingers still And spoils the dull remembrance of the thrill. English

Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Yes, they’re 400 years old, but the rules still apply.

Sonnets in Performance (sometimes hearing a poem helps)

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, quatrain a And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c And often is his gold complexion dimmed; d And every fair from fair sometime declines, c By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed. d But thy eternal summer shall not fade, e Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st f Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, e When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. f couplet So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. g

English Sonnets ~English Sonnet Structure~
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 dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest, Nor shall Death brag thou wonder’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. First Quatrain Introduces an idea and begins its development Second Quatrain Continues to develop the idea of the first quatrain Third Quatrain Final idea development, then turn toward resolution Couplet Resolution or final thoughts on the issue of the poem

The Sonnet Test Several of Shakespeare’s sonnets will be featured on the Sonnet Test, along with other sonnet selections. (These may include Sonnet 18, Sonnet 73, Sonnet 116, and Sonnet 130.) If you’re struggling with Shakespeare, . . . you might want to do a little preparation on your own. The Sonnet Test will be on … … Wednesday, January 23rd (A-day) … Thursday, January 24th (B-day)

Sonnets—Structure and Meaning (Sonnet Test on January 23th/24th)

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