ENG 110

Introduction to English Literature:

Poetry

Lecturer: Ms S Jacobs
Email: [email protected]
Consultation hours: Tuesdays 7:30-9:30
and 10:30-12:30
Office K109 above the Cafeteria
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) 52 yrs &
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) 47 yrs
 What does ‘Renaissance’ mean?
 When did the Renaissance happen?
 Give a date from the 16th century?
 Which period came before the Renaissance?
 What influenced art and literature during the
Renaissance?
 When was the classical period?
 Which cultures’ classical periods strongly
influenced European culture?
 Who was Petrarch?
 The Sonnet

The sonnet, as a poetic genre, began in Italy in

the thirteenth century, and, under the later
influence of the Italian poet Petrarch, became
internationally popular.

Petrarch established the basic form of the so-

called Petrarchan sonnet: 14 lines divided into
two clear parts, an opening octet (8 lines) and a
closing sestet (6 lines) with a fixed rhyme scheme
(abbaabba cdecde).
A sonnet is a poem consisting of
 14 lines
 of iambic “Sonnet 116” by Shakespeare
1. Let me not to the marriage of true minds
pentameter 2. Admit impediments; love is not love
3. Which alters when it alteration finds,
4. Or bends with the remover to remove.
5. O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
6. That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
7. It is the star to every wand'ring bark
8. Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
9. Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
10. Within his bending sickle's compass come.
11. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
12. But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
13. If this be error and upon me proved,
14. I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
 What is iambic pentameter?

• Iambic pentameter is often called “walking

rhythm”,
• Differs from iambic tetrameter, which is the
“sing-song” rhythm of the ballad or pop song,
which has four stressed syllables per line.
• Iambic pentameter consists of five stressed
syllables and five iambic feet per line.
• In iambic pentameter, lines consisting of 10
syllables have 5 stressed syllables and 5
unstressed syllables
A sonnet is a poem consisting of
 14 lines
 of iambic
pentameter
A sonnet is a poem consisting of
 14 lines
 of iambic
pentameter
 14 lines of iambic
pentameter

Italian / Petrarchan
Sonnet

- an octave (eight lines)

- a sestet (six lines)
“The long love that in my thought doth Harbor” by Wyatt
The long love that in my thought doth harbor a
And in mine heart doth keep his residence, b
Into my face presseth with bold pretense, b
And therein campeth, spreading his banner. a
Octave
She that me learneth to love and suffer, a
And wills that my trust and lust’s negligence b
Be reined by reason, shame and reverence, b
With his hardiness taketh displeasure. a Volta
Wherewithal, unto the heart’s forest he fleeth, c
Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry; d Sestet
And there him hideth, and not appeareth. c
What may I do when my master feareth c
But in the field with him to live and die? d
For good is the life, ending faithfully. d
 14 lines of iambic
pentameter

Italian / Petrarchan English /

Sonnet Shakespearian Sonnet

- an octave (eight lines) - three quatrains (4 lines each)

- a sestet (six lines) - a couplet (two lines)
 The Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet contains the following
features:
◦ An octave (eight lines) rhyming abbaabba
◦ A sestet (six lines) of varying rhyme patterns, such
as cdecde or cdccdc
◦ Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early 1500s first introduced the Italian
sonnet into English. It rapidly became all the rage.
 The English (or Shakespearean) sonnet contains the
following features:
◦ Three quatrains (sections of four lines, also called
“staves”): abab cdcd efef
◦ A concluding couplet (two rhyming lines): gg. Sometimes, the
concluding couplet after the turn is called the gemel.
Normally, the first part of the sonnet (octave or
quatrains) introduces and develops a problem
or paradox or question of some sort.

Then, there is a change in direction, thought,

or emotion called a volta or a turn.

The last part (sestet or couplet) illustrates this

change in direction, thought, or emotion.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
“Sonnet 116” by Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds a
Admit impediments; love is not love b
Quatrain
Which alters when it alteration finds, a
Or bends with the remover to remove. b
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark c
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; d
Quatrain
It is the star to every wand'ring bark c
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. d
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks e
Within his bending sickle's compass come. f Quatrain
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, e
But bears it out even to the edge of doom: f Volta
If this be error and upon me proved, g
Couplet
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. g
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.

Enjambment
Alitteration
Repetition
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Metaphor
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Metaphor
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

Repetition
Alitteration, assonance
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

Repetition
Alitteration, assonance
Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

Personification,
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a

Coral is far more red than her lips' red; b

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; a

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. b

I have seen roses damasked, red and white, c

But no such roses see I in her cheeks; d

And in some perfumes is there more delight c

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. d

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know e

That music hath a far more pleasing sound; f

I grant I never saw a goddess go; e

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. f

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare g

As any she belied with false compare. g

 14 lines of iambic
pentameter

Italian / Petrarchan English /

Sonnet Shakespearian Sonnet

- an octave (eight lines) - three quatrains (4 lines each)

- a sestet (six lines) - a couplet (two lines)
Spenserian Sonnet

- three quatrains (4 lines

each) with interlocking
rhyming sounds
- a couplet (two lines)
“One Day I Wrote her Name” by Spenser
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, a
But came the waves and washed it away: b
Quatrain
Again I wrote it with a second hand, a
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. b
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, b
A mortal thing so to immortalize; c
Quatrain
For I myself shall like to this decay, b
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.” c
"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise c
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: d Quatrain
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, c
And in the heavens write your glorious name: d Volta
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, e
Couplet
Our love shall live, and later life renew.” e
“One Day I Wrote her Name” by Spenser
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, a
But came the waves and washed it away: b
Quatrain
Again I wrote it with a second hand, a
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. b Interlocking
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, b sounds
A mortal thing so to immortalize; c
Quatrain
For I myself shall like to this decay, b
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.” c Interlocking
"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise c sounds
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: d Quatrain
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, c
And in the heavens write your glorious name: d Volta
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, e
Couplet
Our love shall live, and later life renew.” e
Petrarch also established the convention of
the sonnet sequence as a series of love poems
written by an adoring lover to an unattainable
and unapproachable lady of unsurpassed
beauty. The Petrarchan sonnet convention, in
other words, established, not merely the form
of the poem, but also the subject matter.
The sonnet form was brought into
English poetry in the sixteenth century
by Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard
(Earl of Surrey). They introduced some
modifications in the form, sometimes
substituting for the traditional division
into octet and sestet a division into
three quatrains (4 lines each) and a
closing couplet, with a different (but
still tightly controlled) rhyme scheme.
“One Day I Wrote her Name” by Spenser
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, a
But came the waves and washed it away: b
Quatrain
Again I wrote it with a second hand, a
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. b
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, b
A mortal thing so to immortalize; c
Quatrain
For I myself shall like to this decay, b
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.” c
"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise c
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: d Quatrain
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, c
And in the heavens write your glorious name: d Volta
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, e
Couplet
Our love shall live, and later life renew.” e
 Edmund Spenser’s “One Day I Wrote her
Name” is a traditional Spenserian sonnet,
formed by three interlocked quatrains and a
couplet. It has an ABAB BCBC CDCD EE rhyme
scheme and it is written in iambic
pentameter. Spenser’s name is tied to this
pattern as Shakespeare is tied to the
structure he made famous within his sonnets.
“One Day I Wrote her Name” by Spenser
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, a
But came the waves and washed it away: b
Quatrain
Again I wrote it with a second hand, a
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. b Interlocking
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay, b sounds
A mortal thing so to immortalize; c
Quatrain
For I myself shall like to this decay, b
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.” c Interlocking
"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise c sounds
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: d Quatrain
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, c
And in the heavens write your glorious name: d Volta
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue, e
Couplet
Our love shall live, and later life renew.” e
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 tide, and made my pains his prey.

"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay,

A mortal thing so to immortalize;

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eke 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 vertues 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.”

 An important part of the sonnet convention
was often a celebration of the poet's "wit,"
that is, of his ability to show his poetic skill in
appropriating metaphors and conceits
(extended metaphors) in clever ways, so that
the poem becomes, not just a tribute to the
lady but also a testament to his great skill as
a poet. Hence, the sonnet convention often
encouraged a highly artificial and very literary
treatment of feelings of love.