Poetry: Sonnet

 Origin:

• In Italy, latter half of the 13th century.
• It is associated with the great Italian poet, Petrarch.
• It was originally a short poem, recited to the accompaniment of music.
• The word "sonnet" was derived from the Italian word "sonetto", meaning a little sound or strain.

The Italian Sonnet:

• From its brilliant use by Petrarch, the Italian Sonnet is often known as Petrarchan. Sometimes it was called as classical form. 
• It is a short poem of 14 lines, expressing one single thought or feeling. 
• It is composed of two parts- Octave (a stanza of eight lines) and Sestet (a stanza of six lines)
• The Octave has two rhymes arranged according to the following scheme: a b b a, a b b a.
• The Octave may be divided into two stanzas of four lines each, called quatrains.
• At the end of the Octave i.e. after the eighth line, there is a well- marked pause or caesura, followed by a volta or turn in the thought in the Sestet.Yet this break is not found in the Italian Sonnet, or in Milton, who revived the Italian form. For instance, there is no division between the Octave and the Sestet in his famous sonnet "On His Blindness".
• Another of Milton's sonnets, however, "When the Assault was Intended to the City", gives a good illustration of the different characteristics of the Italian Sonnet.

When the Assault was intended to the City

Captain, or Colonel, or Knight in arms, 

Whose chance on these defenceless doors may seize,

If deed of honour did thee ever please,

Guard them, and him within protect from harms.

  (rhyme scheme : a b b a )

He can require thee, for he knows the charms

That call fame on such gentle acts as these,

And he can spread thy name o'er lands and seas,

Whatever clime the sun's bright circle   warms.

      (rhyme scheme : a b b a )

Life not thy spear against the Muses' bower

The great Emathian conqueror bid spare

The house of Pindarus when temple and tower

      (rhyme scheme : c d c )

Went to the ground and the repeated air

Of sad Electra's poet had the power

To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare

        (rhyme scheme : c d c )

• The Sestet sometimes has three rhymes and sometimes two and arranged in various ways as follows: cde,cde; cdc,dcd; cde,dce.
• The Sestet was divided into two of three lines each, called tercets.

The English sonnet

•  The sonnet was introduced in England in the first half of the 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, two English politicians, who after their return from a diplomatic mission in Italy, wrote verses in this form for pleasure.
• Surrey adopted a rhyme scheme different from the Italian model. He wrote in three quatrains in alternate rhyme, followed by a concluding couplet: a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. This was followed by Shakespeare in his sonnets. 
• It is divided into four parts, it has no pause (caesura) and turn of thought (volta). In the final couplet, the poet's thought will reach its highest peak.
• The sonnet by Shakespeare, commonly called "Remembrance" may be studied as a model of Shakespearean type.

Remembrance

When to the sessions of sweet, silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things, past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wan my dear time's waste.

(rhyme scheme: a b a b)

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long- since- cancelled wow,

And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight.

(rhyme scheme: c d c d )

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore- bemoaned moan

Which I new pay as if not paid before

(rhyme scheme: e f e f )

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restored and sorrows end.

(rhyme scheme: g g )

The Spenserian Variety

• In this variety, each of the quatrains was linked to the other by an intermixture of the rhymes in the following manner: a b a b, b c b c, c d c d, e e. The following is an example of Spenserian form:

Ye tradeful merchants, that, with weary toil,

Do seek most precious things to make your gain;

And both the Indias of their treasure spoil;

What needeth you to seek so far in vain?

(rhyme scheme: a b a b)

For lo, my love doth in herself contain

All this world's riches that may far be found:

If sapphires, lo, her eyes be sapphires plain;

If rubies, lo, her lips be rubies sound;

(rhyme scheme: b c b c)

If pearls, her teeth be pearls, both pure and round;

If ivory, her forehead ivory ween;

If gold, her locks are finest gold on ground;

If silver, her fair hands are silver sheen;

(rhyme scheme: c d c d)

But that which fairest is, but few behold.

Her mind adorned with virtues manifold.

The Subjects of the Sonnet

• Shakespeare followed the theme of love
• Milton widened the scope of Sonnet by including various range of subjects based on human feeling and experience.

Activity:

What are the general features of a sonnet? Explain with rhyme scheme and examples.