Consider the sonnet as a verse form. With examples compare the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets and show developments in this form to the twentieth century.
Lara Finnegan 20th January 2000
Consider the sonnet as a verse form. With examples compare the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets and show developments in this form to the twentieth century.
The first sonnets were written by a Sicilian lawyer named Giacomo da Lentino, during the first part of the thirteenth century. The form soon became very popular and was publicised through the works of many well-known Italian poets, such as Cavalcanti, Dante and Petrarch, thus becoming known as the Petrarchan sonnet form. It soon spread through Europe and finally to England during the sixteenth century, through Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who developed it slightly. Soon after, Shakespeare realised the limitations of such a strict format and therefore developed and changed it further, creating the Shakespearean form. However, not everyone agreed with his indifference towards tradition; John Milton and Wordsworth soon reverted to the strictly disciplined Petrarchan form again, preferring it to the relatively 'free and easy' style of Shakespeare. Through time, many poets have experimented with different styles and techniques, and by the twentieth century, writers such as Elizabeth Jennings wrote such undisciplined poetry that it could only be recognised as a sonnet by the fourteen lines.
The word 'sonnet' comes from the Italian word sonnetto, meaning 'little sound' or 'song,' and the standard form consists of fourteen lines and a strict but variable rhyme scheme. The underlying stresses in each line are usually iambic pentameters but variation does occur in most poetry in order to make the rhythm more interesting. The Petrarchan sonnet form has a very strict format and rhyme scheme, and the content almost always consists of one of three themes: love, time or change. In the first eight lines, known as the octave, there are only two rhyming sounds, so the poet needs four 'a' rhymes and four 'b' rhymes. Also, an idea or problem is usually argued or discussed in the octave, and then resolved in the sestet (the last six lines). This change in thought or development of an argument is called the volta. Rhyme schemes are variable in the sestet, and combinations such as cdcdcd, cdecde, and ccdccd are all permissible.
The Shakespearean form of the sonnet reduces the number of rhyming words needed because it is divided into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end. The most common rhyme schemes are abab cdcd efef gg and abba cddc effe gg, but some variation is allowed. In this form the volta after the octave is sometimes recognised, but not always. An idea is generally expressed in the first quatrain, developed and argued in the second and third, and resolved in the rhyming couplet at the end.
The first sonnets written in English were by Sir Thomas Wyatt, and he used the Petrarchan form. He wrote about thirty sonnets altogether, ten of them translations of Petrarch. In some of his sonnets, however, he introduced the rhyming couplet at the end, which is never found in the true Petrarchan form. In the octave of his sonnet "Divers doth use, as I have heard and know," he describes how men "mourn and wail" when their ladies decide that they do not love them anymore, in order to "pease their painful woe." Some turn against the women who ...
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The first sonnets written in English were by Sir Thomas Wyatt, and he used the Petrarchan form. He wrote about thirty sonnets altogether, ten of them translations of Petrarch. In some of his sonnets, however, he introduced the rhyming couplet at the end, which is never found in the true Petrarchan form. In the octave of his sonnet "Divers doth use, as I have heard and know," he describes how men "mourn and wail" when their ladies decide that they do not love them anymore, in order to "pease their painful woe." Some turn against the women who no longer love them and call them "false." However, the format is changed slightly because there is a development of his ideas after the first four lines, and therefore the octave could be divided into two quatrains. In the first four lines, Wyatt tells us how many men never stop mourning in an attempt to cope with their grief when "that to change their ladies do begin." In the second four lines, the idea is changed because, instead of men just being upset that their women "hate where love hath been," they "call them false," and condemn the lady.
However, true to the Petrarchan form, there is a marked turn of thought after the octave, which is emphasised by the word 'but' - "But as for me, though that by chance indeed." In the sestet Wyatt says that he, unlike other men, "will not wail, lament, nor yet be sad," even though his lady no longer loves him. He will not be upset with her, nor "call her false," because he accepts that women often change their minds. The rhyme scheme is one that would be expected from a Petrarchan sonnet - abbaabba cddcdd (except for the rhyming couplet at the end), as is the theme of love and change.
In the sonnet "Divers thy death that do diversely bemoan" by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, we can see that he realised to an extent how limited the Petrarchan form was. This is shown by the rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg, because Italian is much richer in rhyming words than English, and this format makes it easier to find words that rhyme. Also, he is not as strict with the rhythm because his lines do not all have the usual ten syllables, such as "Some that watched with the murderer's knife," which has only nine. This use of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet was adopted by Shakespeare and thus became known as the Shakespearean sonnet form.
Shakespeare was fortunate enough to be able to see the work of both Wyatt and Howard, and to use and expand their ideas. His sonnets, unlike earlier ones, do not revolve around one female figure. Instead, they are written to a young blonde aristocrat, a mysterious 'dark lady' and a rival poet. He saw the potential in the sonnet, if only some of the strict rules attached to it could be broken. Therefore, he divided it into three definite quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end, his usual rhyme scheme being abab cdcd efef gg. He also does not always recognise the volta after the octave; instead he uses all of the first twelve lines to argue his case, and resolves the problem in the rhyming couplet.
In sonnet XVIII - "Shall I compare thee...," there are four definite parts. In the first quatrain Shakespeare defines the subject; we know as soon as he asks the question "Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?" that the sonnet will be a comparison between his lover and summertime. He then says how his lover is "more lovely and more temperate" than summer, and points out that it has many imperfections and only lasts for a very short time. This idea is explored more fully in the second quatrain. Shakespeare points out the negative aspects of summer, such as, "Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines," giving us the general impression that there is hardly ever a day when some variable is not quite right. In the third quatrain there is a shift in focus, showing the Petrarchan turn of thought after the octave. Shakespeare says that his lover is better than summer, because his beauty is constant, and can defeat time because it is immortal, as we see where it says, "Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade." This poses the question: how can his beauty be made immortal? Our answer is found in the rhyming couplet at the end:
"So long as men can breath or eyes can see.
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
Another example of the Shakespearean form is sonnet CXVI - "Let me not." This sonnet, unlike earlier ones, is not written for or about anybody. Instead, Shakespeare reflects upon the nature of love and the effects of the passing of time. He seems to describe it through negatives, such as, "lov's not Times foole," and does not say exactly what love is, but what it is not. The theme of love and time is typically Petrarchan, and there is also a natural turn of thought after the octave. However, it is divided into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet and some of the lines, such as "Whose worths unknowne, although his higth be taken," have eleven syllables, instead of the traditional ten.
The first quatrain states that "love is not love/ Which alters where it alteration findes,"
meaning that true love will stay constant through any mortal imperfection or change. If any two people decide that they do not love each other anymore, they could not have truly loved each other in the first place. In the second quatrain, love is compared to a beacon, "an ever fixed mark," such as the North Star, which is what ships used for navigation. The star guides the ship, giving it purpose and direction, as love does to people. After this there is a turn of thought, as Shakespeare brings the effect of time into the sonnet. It says,
"Lov's not Times foole, though rosie lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickles compasse come."
This means that although beauty is 'cut down' by time, love stays constant "even to the edge of doome." The sonnet is concluded in the rhyming couplet at the end by Shakespeare saying that if what he has written is not true, he "never writ, nor no man ever loved."
By the seventeenth century, sonnets had greatly decreased in popularity and many fewer were written than in Elizabethan times. John Milton, however, found the form intriguing, but, in accordance with his religious and Puritanical outlook on life, he decided that Shakespeare had taken too many liberties with his sonnets, and therefore reverted to the relatively disciplined Petrarchan form. His rhyme scheme was the typically Petrarchan abbaabba in the octave, but the sestet had various arrangements. We can see from his sonnet "On His Blindness" that he does not adhere to the traditional content of a Petrarchan sonnet, such as the themes of love, time or change, but instead contemplates his blindness. He was one of the first poets to do this.
"On His Blindness" is an autobiographical account of Milton's struggle to cope with his blindness, and the octave seems to ask the underlying question, 'Why me?' In the first six lines, there is an allusion to the parable of talents in the Bible, as we see where it says, "And that one Talent which is death to hide," which is also a play on words because his 'talent' is the natural gift of poetry. In the octave there is a feeling of resignation, uselessness and an inability to serve God, and the bitter last line: "Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd?" seems to represent the climax of Milton's suffering. This is replaced by a calmer, wiser viewpoint in the sestet because Milton accepts his blindness. It says, "God doth not need/ Either man's work or His own gifts," meaning that it is not always the one who works that earn God's love, but the one who can "bear his mild yoke." This is reinforced in the last line: "They also serve who only stand and wait." Even though Milton does not fight or work for God, he does serve God and God still loves him.
William Wordswoth, who live in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, also felt that Shakespeare had been too undisciplined with his sonnets, but only to an extent. We can see this from the way he writes his sonnet "Surprised by Joy - Impatient as the Wind." The rhyme scheme of abbaacca dedede fits neither the Petrarchan nor the Shakespearean sonnet forms, and some of the lines have eleven syllables instead of the usual ten. However, unlike Milton, his theme of love and change is typically Petrarchan, and the sonnet is divided into an octave and sestet, instead of the Shakespearean quatrains and rhyming couplet.
In the twentieth century, many poets such as Elizabeth Jennings moved away from the Petrarchan and Shakespearean forms altogether. In Jennings' sonnet entitled "Ghosts," there is no discernible rhyme scheme and instead of it being set out in quatrains or an octave and a sestet, it is divided into four triplets and two lines at the end. The poem consists of only one idea; there is no volta and ideas are not even completed at the end of each verse; she has written it en jambement in order to help express the fluidity and intangibility of ghosts. The lines are not iambic pentameters and therefore do not have ten syllables, as the traditional sonnets do. Even the content is not what one would expect from a Petrarchan or Shakespearean sonnet - the sonnet is about ghosts instead of change, love or time. We can tell that it is a sonnet, however, by the fact that it has fourteen lines.
"Ghosts" is a poem about Elizabeth Jennings' ideas concerning why ghosts haunt houses and what they do. The first line states that ghosts "those houses haunt in which we leave/ Something undone," meaning that they only haunt places where life has been unsatisfactory or incomplete. She claims that ghosts are not recognised by the people they haunt, as we see where it says, "Ghosts do not haunt with any face/ That we have known." They also "thrust at us/ Our own omissions," meaning that they point out the things that we have not done in our lives, but perhaps should have. Everything that we could not bring ourselves to admit, do or say, they make us recognise and 'face up to.'
The sonnet has been changed and developed a great deal since its first construction in Italy. Many sonneteers had something to contribute to this development, among them Thomas Wyatt, the Earl of Surrey, Shakespeare, John Milton, and twentieth century writers such as Elizabeth Jennings. The original octave and sestet of the Petrarchan form were changed to three quatrains and a rhyming couplet, content and the number of syllables in each line were changed, and the only variable that stayed constant throughout history was the fourteen lines.