Monday, January 30th:
Hey Guys!
Last week, we analyzed and did a multiple choice test over a sonnet written by Samuel Daniel. We also went over Shakespearian and Petrarchan (otherwise known as Italian) sonnets and the villanelle, another type of poem. We analyzed Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" which is a classic example of a villanelle.
Sonnets, both Shakespearian and Petrarchan (named after an Italian poet named - interestingly enough - Petrarch!) have 14 lines and are written in iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line; five iambs per line; stressed/unstressed. Think of an iamb as a heartbeat: du dum, du dum - (Shall I) (com pare) (thee to) (a sum) (mer's day). The iamb is the beat of the human heart and it expresses the yearnings of the poet's soul - or is that way too sappy for you guys? Right! But if you remember that - that it does echo the beat of your own heart, its murmurrings, then you will avoid that most unpleasant "de-dum de-dum de-dum" style of declaiming Shakespeare. Which is really de-dum. Sorry.
The Shakespearian sonnet is in an ab ab cd cd ef ef gg rhyme scheme. If you are asked on the multiple choice test to determine whether a poem is Shakespearian or Italian, and you are pressed for time, then check the last two lines of the sonnet to see if it ends in gg or a couplet - if it does, then it is Shakespearian; if the poem doesn't end in a couplet (a two line rhyme), then it is probably Italian or Petrarchan. The Petrarchan sonnet is - well, just think of the Swedish rock band Abba - which is the rhyme scheme for a Petrarchan sonnet. It is abba abba cdecde, with some variation in the cdecde part of the sonnet.
Petrarch's sonnets are usually a lament over a young woman by the name of Laura who probably didn't exist. The situation or problem is presented in the sonnet's first eight lines or octave (just like in music) or in the first two quatrains of the sonnet - a quatrain is four lines. The "volta", which is an Italian word for turn, usually occurs around the eighth or ninth line of the poem with a solution or a resolution presented in the last six lines ( sestet) of the poem.
There is a wonderful poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt entitled "Whoso List to Hunt" which is an example of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. The poem is an extended metaphor for his cousin, Anne Boleyn, with whom he was in love. There was one small problem - she was unavailable because she was already married to Henry Vlll and unfortunately, we all know how that marriage ended.
We also went over Shakespearian sonnet number seventy-three, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold", which is quite lovely! But don't worry, we'll go over that one too. However, it would really help if you read the poem before school starts in March! You can access the poem on the following link. Sonnet Seventy-Three
On Thursday, only Dylan showed up, so in Dylan's honor we read Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night", a gorgeous poem in which Thomas is imploring his father to fight valiantly for life and not submit to death. It is a poem of six stanzas with a rhyme scheme of "aba aba aba" (think of it as an Abba album with the needle stuck) - each stanza has approximately three lines. The first line states the theme with the third line of the first stanza ("Rage, rage against the dying of the light") supporting the theme. The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated through out the poem. This is a beautiful poem and you should read it anyway even if I didn't make you.
I hope to see you tomorrow. We will read some info about the "Age of Reason" and a wee bit of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost.
Happy reading!
Please be sure to read FRANKENSTEIN!
Hey Guys!
Last week, we analyzed and did a multiple choice test over a sonnet written by Samuel Daniel. We also went over Shakespearian and Petrarchan (otherwise known as Italian) sonnets and the villanelle, another type of poem. We analyzed Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" which is a classic example of a villanelle.
Sonnets, both Shakespearian and Petrarchan (named after an Italian poet named - interestingly enough - Petrarch!) have 14 lines and are written in iambic pentameter (ten syllables per line; five iambs per line; stressed/unstressed. Think of an iamb as a heartbeat: du dum, du dum - (Shall I) (com pare) (thee to) (a sum) (mer's day). The iamb is the beat of the human heart and it expresses the yearnings of the poet's soul - or is that way too sappy for you guys? Right! But if you remember that - that it does echo the beat of your own heart, its murmurrings, then you will avoid that most unpleasant "de-dum de-dum de-dum" style of declaiming Shakespeare. Which is really de-dum. Sorry.
The Shakespearian sonnet is in an ab ab cd cd ef ef gg rhyme scheme. If you are asked on the multiple choice test to determine whether a poem is Shakespearian or Italian, and you are pressed for time, then check the last two lines of the sonnet to see if it ends in gg or a couplet - if it does, then it is Shakespearian; if the poem doesn't end in a couplet (a two line rhyme), then it is probably Italian or Petrarchan. The Petrarchan sonnet is - well, just think of the Swedish rock band Abba - which is the rhyme scheme for a Petrarchan sonnet. It is abba abba cdecde, with some variation in the cdecde part of the sonnet.
Petrarch's sonnets are usually a lament over a young woman by the name of Laura who probably didn't exist. The situation or problem is presented in the sonnet's first eight lines or octave (just like in music) or in the first two quatrains of the sonnet - a quatrain is four lines. The "volta", which is an Italian word for turn, usually occurs around the eighth or ninth line of the poem with a solution or a resolution presented in the last six lines ( sestet) of the poem.
There is a wonderful poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt entitled "Whoso List to Hunt" which is an example of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. The poem is an extended metaphor for his cousin, Anne Boleyn, with whom he was in love. There was one small problem - she was unavailable because she was already married to Henry Vlll and unfortunately, we all know how that marriage ended.
We also went over Shakespearian sonnet number seventy-three, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold", which is quite lovely! But don't worry, we'll go over that one too. However, it would really help if you read the poem before school starts in March! You can access the poem on the following link. Sonnet Seventy-Three
On Thursday, only Dylan showed up, so in Dylan's honor we read Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night", a gorgeous poem in which Thomas is imploring his father to fight valiantly for life and not submit to death. It is a poem of six stanzas with a rhyme scheme of "aba aba aba" (think of it as an Abba album with the needle stuck) - each stanza has approximately three lines. The first line states the theme with the third line of the first stanza ("Rage, rage against the dying of the light") supporting the theme. The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated through out the poem. This is a beautiful poem and you should read it anyway even if I didn't make you.
I hope to see you tomorrow. We will read some info about the "Age of Reason" and a wee bit of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost.
Happy reading!
Please be sure to read FRANKENSTEIN!
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