1. 1 sonnets Fromsonnetta or “little song” From sonnetta or “little song”

2. 2 Definition(s) 14 lines of poetry with set rhyme 14 lines of poetry with set rhyme Usually iambic pentameter Usually iambic pentameter Italian sonnets = 11 syllables/line Italian sonnets = 11 syllables/line French sonnets = 12 syllables/line ( aka Alexandrine) French sonnets = 12 syllables/line ( aka Alexandrine) Meant to be sung Meant to be sung Usually about [courtly] love Usually about [courtly] love

3. 3 Some Sonneteers Petrarch (1304 - 1374) Wyatt (1503 - 1542) Wyatt (1503 - 1542) Spenser (1552 - 1599) Spenser (1552 - 1599) Sidney (1554 - 1586) Shakespeare ( 1564? - 1616) Sidney (1554 - 1586) Shakespeare ( 1564? - 1616) Donne (1571 ca. - 1631) Donne (1571 ca. - 1631) Milton (1608 - 1674) Milton (1608 - 1674)

4. 4 Sonnet Sequences Many sonneteers wrote in “cycles” or sequences Sidney Astophil & Stella (1580) Sidney Astophil & Stella (1580) Edmund Spenser Amoretti (1595) Edmund Spenser Amoretti (1595) Shakespeare (Dark Lady)? Shakespeare (Dark Lady)? John Donne Songs & Sonnets John Donne Songs & Sonnets

5. 5 Francesco Petrarch 1304 - 1374 1304 - 1374 Poet laureate of Rome (1341) Poet laureate of Rome (1341) Wrote his sonnets to the fair-haired, blue-eyed “Laura” Wrote his sonnets to the fair-haired, blue-eyed “Laura”

6. 6 Petrarchan or Italian – Octave (abba abba) closed rhyme (abba abba) closed rhyme Problem or question Problem or question – Sestet (cde cde or cdc cdc) interlocking rhyme (cde cde or cdc cdc) interlocking rhyme Answer or (re)solution Answer or (re)solution

7. 7 Thomas Wyatt 1503 – 1542 1503 – 1542 Lover of Anne Boleyn before she married Henry VIII Lover of Anne Boleyn before she married Henry VIII

8. 8 Edmund Spenser 1552 - 1599 1552 - 1599 Attended Cambridge University: B.A. (1573) and M.A. (1576) Attended Cambridge University: B.A. (1573) and M.A. (1576) Faerie Queene greatest work Faerie Queene greatest work

9. 9 Spenserian  3 quatrains (abab bcbc cdcd)  Problem or question  Couplet (ee)  Answer or (re)solution

10. 10 William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616 1564 - 1616 Major playwright Major playwright Venus & Adonis Venus & Adonis The Rape of Lucrece The Rape of Lucrece

11. 11 Shakespearean 3 quatrains of interlocking 3 quatrains of interlocking – (abab cdcd efef) – Problem or question 1 couplet 1 couplet – (gg) – Anser or (re)solution

12. 12 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (i) Generally … 1-126 addressed to highborn patron 1-126 addressed to highborn patron 127-152 addressed to “Dark Lady” 127-152 addressed to “Dark Lady” 127 not a true sonnet 127 not a true sonnet Some say 145 is not Shakespeare’s Some say 145 is not Shakespeare’s

13. 13 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (ii) 1-17: Addressed to a noble youth, urging him to marry and reproduce 1-17: Addressed to a noble youth, urging him to marry and reproduce 18-26: Variety of themes 18-26: Variety of themes 27-32 & 48-50: Poet is absent from friend 27-32 & 48-50: Poet is absent from friend

14. 14 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (iii) 56-58: Friend is absent from poet 56-58: Friend is absent from poet 33-35: Foreshadow an estrangement caused by fault in poet’s friend 33-35: Foreshadow an estrangement caused by fault in poet’s friend 38-42: Tell specifically of the fault alluded to in 33-35 38-42: Tell specifically of the fault alluded to in 33-35

15. 15 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (iv) 53-77: the power of love and the beauty within us 53-77: the power of love and the beauty within us 71-74: a vision of the poet’s own death 71-74: a vision of the poet’s own death 78-86: rival poet sequence 78-86: rival poet sequence

16. 16 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (v) 88-93: continuing the theme of estrangement; loss of love and of patronage 88-93: continuing the theme of estrangement; loss of love and of patronage 94-96: obscure, but on a friend’s fault 94-96: obscure, but on a friend’s fault 92-99: theme of absence 92-99: theme of absence

17. 17 Hardin Craig’s Groupings (vi) 100-104: an apology for a long silence 100-104: an apology for a long silence 104-125: celebration of beauty, virtue, renewal of protests of eternal faithfulness 104-125: celebration of beauty, virtue, renewal of protests of eternal faithfulness

18. 18 Other Groupings Tucker Brooke’s Tucker Brooke’s Charles Wolff Charles Wolff [http://members.tripod.com/~charleswolff/ROTS/r3.html] http://members.tripod.com/~charleswolff/ROTS/r3.html

19. 19 Finis