EUL - European Poetry Lesson

European Poetry

European poetry often discussed the concept of love—especially unrequited love. One of the popular fixed-form poems is the sonnet. The sonnet includes all other important poetic elements, as well, so make sure to print the Genre Term Reference Sheet located in the sidebar if you have not done so.

In the Latin American and Caribbean module, the poetry analysis method of T.P.C.A.S.T.T. appeared. Open and print the documents labeled TPCASTT1 and TPCASTT2 in the sidebar if you did not do so in the previous module. These will be used throughout the module to help you analyze poetry..

T-Title: Look at the title before reading the poem. Attempt to predict the significance of the title. This will help you gauge the meaning of the poem as you read. Occasionally, poems will not have titles. If this is the case, skip the "title" part of the TPCASTT technique.

P-Paraphrase: Translate the plot of the poem into your own words. Make sure you

understand what every word means and that you can see every image being used.

C-Connotation: Contemplate the meaning of the poem beyond the literal—the

figurative. Look for all poetic devices and see how they contribute to the meaning of the poem. Connotative devices include all figurative language and sound devices (similes, metaphors, etc.)

A-Attitude: Identify and describe the persona. Observe the speaker's attitude, the tone.

S-Shift: Determine the stanza type and whether there are shifts in the tone/attitude.

  Sometimes a change in stanzas will indicate a shift in attitude.

T-Title (again): Reexamine the title. Try to see how the title fits with the work as a whole.

T-Theme: Determine what the poet is saying. This does not have to be a "moral" or a "cute saying." Instead, think about how the human experience is presented in the poem. The theme should be a universal truth, not applicable only to the poem.

The Latin American and Caribbean Literature module covered free verse poetry that did not have a set structure, rhyme, or meter. In this module, a specific type of poem—the sonnet—will be examined.

Sonnets are fixed-form poems, so they each abide by certain rules in order to be classified as sonnets. The majority of sonnets have a volta, or turn, within the poem. With the volta, the second idea is introduced in the sonnet. Sonnets are also typically written in Iambic Pentameter. A poem is written in Iambic Pentameter when the poem has five sets of unstressed and stressed syllables.

For Example: da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM

Iambic Pentameter

There are certain steps to take when understanding Iambic Pentameter.

(1) Break the words into syllables

Ex: Shall I com|pare thee to a su|mmer's day

(2) Determine what syllable received the emphasis (read the word out loud)

Ex: Shall I com|PARE thee to a SU|mmer's day

*Notice that if emphasis the first syllable of COM|pare that it does not sound right

(3) Read the one-syllable words within the sentence, and practice which sounds better—emphasis or no emphasis.

Ex: Which sentence sounds better?

SHALL i com|PARE thee TO a SU|mmer's DAY

Shall I com|PARE thee TO a SU|mmer's DAY

(4) Knowing that the pattern of Iambic Pentameter is unstressed-stressed, the second example has a clear rhythm and flow when read out loud.

Three Types of Sonnets

There are three main types of sonnets. When reading the sonnets in this module, notice the recurring theme of unrequited love.

The Spenserian Sonnet

  • Invented by Edmund Spenser
  • Structure: Three Quatrains and a Couplet
  • Rhythm: Iambic Pentameter
  • Rhyme Scheme: abab bcbc cdcd ee
  • Style: Quatrains are three distinct but related ideas with a different idea or commentary in the couplet

Read a sample Spenserian Sonnet below.

"Sonnet LIV"

Of this World's theatre in which we stay,

My love like the Spectator idly sits,

Beholding me, that all the pageants play,

Disguising diversely my troubled wits.

 

Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits,

And mask in mirth like to a Comedy;

Soon after when my joy to sorrow flits,

I wail and make my woes a Tragedy.

 

Yet she, beholding me with constant eye,

Delights not in my mirth nor rues my smart;

But when I laugh, she mocks: and when I cry

She laughs and hardens evermore her heart.

 

What then can move her? If nor mirth nor moan,

She is no woman, but a senseless stone.

The Petrarchan Sonnet (The Italian Sonnet)

  • Invented by Petrarch
  • Structure: One octave (8 lines) and One sestet (6 lines)
  • Rhythm: Iambic Pentameter
  • Rhyme Scheme: abbaabba cdecde (or any combination of cdecde in the sestet)
  • Style: An idea or problem in the octave with the resolution in the sestet

Read a sample Petrarchan Sonnet below.

"Sonnet LXXI"

Who will in fairest book of Nature know

How Virtue may best lodged in Beauty be,

Let him but learn of Love to read in thee,

Stella, those fair lines, which true goodness show.

There shall he find all vices' overthrow,

Not by rude force, but sweetest sovereignty

Of reason, from whose light those night-birds fly;

That inward sun in thine eyes shineth so.

 

And not content to be Perfection's heir

Thyself, dost strive all minds that way to move,

Who mark in thee what is in thee most fair.

So while thy beauty draws the heart to love,

As fast thy Virtue bends that love to good.

"But, ah," Desire still cries, "give me some food."

The Shakespearean Sonnet (The English Sonnet)

  • Invented by William Shakespeare
  • Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet
  • Rhythm: Iambic Pentameter
  • Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
  • Style: Quatrains are three distinct but related ideas with a different idea or commentary in the couplet

Read a sample Shakespearean sonnet below.

"Sonnet LXXIII"

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 seest 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 seest the glowing of such fire,

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the deathbed, whereon it must expire,

Consumed by 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.

Sonnet Identification Interactivity

Now, you will practice identifying the elements that appear below as belonging to a Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or Spenserian sonnet.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.