On a more serious note, I have included an analysis of Petrarchan poetry; a paper submitted for a course on Renaissance Poetry. It is not meant for entertainment. The purpose of its enclosure is to provide a technical sample of my work.
The Petrarchan Sonnet: A Comparison of Sixteenth Century Poets
Distinctive in structure, function, and concept, the Petrarchan Sonnet was created in Italy, but gained popularity and notoriety in Sixteenth Century England. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir Philip Sidney adopted this form, however while Sidney strictly adhered to its principles, Wyatt used poetic liberties, often straying from the conventional model.
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 1542) was born in Allington, Kent, and educated at St. John’s College in Cambridge. His service at court included appointment to several foreign embassies, however his position at court was never secure. After being imprisoned twice, he retired to his country estate.[1] Sixteenth Century poet George Puttenham stated that Wyatt “greatly polished our rude & homely maner of vulgar Poesie from that it had bene before, and for that cause may justly be sayd the first reformers of our English meetre and style.”[2]
Contrastingly, Sir Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586) was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford. He travelled alone, then as a diplomatic emissary to the Elector Palatine, receiving fame as the foremost courtier of England. He was knighted in 1583, becoming the governor of Flushing. He died from the effects of a wound received in battle.[3] Verse prior to Sidney coming on the literary scene has been described as “amateurish if not naïf.” Sidney embraces the full weight of the Petrarchan tradition being the first poet to compose a full-length sonnet sequence in this style.[4]
The Petrarchan form of poetry is characterized by an octave with a rhyme scheme of abbaabba and a sestet with variations of the rhyme scheme, usually cdecde, cdccdc, cddcdd, cdcdcd, or cddcee. Wyatt, while trying to reproduce the effect of Italian weak endings, tended to stray from the conventional rhyme scheme of Petrarchan poetry. There is rising speculation as to whether Wyatt was deliberate in these variations.
In his second sonnet from Sylvester’s English Sixteenth Century Verse: An Anthology, Wyatt sways from the norm in the ending:
Wherewithall, unto the hertes forrest he fleith,
Leving his enterprise with payn and cry,
And ther him hideth and not appereth.
What may I do when my maister fereth
But in the feld with him to lyve and dye?
For goode is the liff, ending faithfully.
The first eight lines (prior to the above excerpt) follow the traditional abbaabba, however the last six lines show a weak, unorganized ending (cdccde). Wyatt used this unconventional ending in several other sonnets, as if he wanted to unsettle the reader at the conclusion of his work.
Sidney showed how verse and voice “could be made to combine and clash in restless harmony.”[5] He has also been described as a model of achievement of the sonneteers, leading others to write in the fashionable Petrarchan form.
In true Petrarchan form, the octave’s purpose is to introduce a problem, express a desire, reflect on reality, or present a situation that causes conflict within the speaker. The problem is usually introduced in the first quatrain, and expounded on in the second. The sestet’s purpose is to provide a solution to the problem, or at least comment on it.
Wyatt’s unorthodox endings seem to betray this theory of function, leaving the reader to develop his own comment or solution to the problem addressed. Several of his poems end each stanza with the same phrase, or variation of a general phrase. In number forty-seven, V. Innocentia Veritas Viat Fides, Wyatt chose to close each stanza with the phrase “circa Regna tonat.” In number forty-three, he ends each stanza with:
But ha, ha, ha, full well is me,
For I am nowe at libretye.
He chose to express the solution to his problem at the conclusion of each stanza, rather than waiting until the sestet.
Sidney follows the Petrarchan model of function in his famous compilation of sonnets, Astrophil and Stella. In number one, Stella’s stunning beauty overwhelms Astrophil’s desire and ability to write. The sestet tells Astrophil how he will be able to accomplish his writing. Each subsequent sonnet presents a problem or a reflection on reality, then either comments on its futileness or provides a solution.
The Petrarchan sonnet refers to the concept of unattainable love and depicted the lady as a model and inspiration. A notable characteristic is the blazon, or catalogue of the lady’s physical beauties. Another concept is the presentation of fanciful and paradoxical terms of the writer’s torments of longing for a disdainful mistress.
Wyatt chose to forego the fanciful flights of Petrarchanism; his love is earthy, self-centered, and often vengeful.[6] His sonnet number seventeen shows the lack of blazon:
Who hath herd of suche crueltye before?
That when my plaint remembred her my woo
That caused it, she cruell more and more
Wisshed eche stitche, as she did sit and soo,
Had prykt myn hert, for to encrese my sore.
And, as I thinck, she thought it had ben so:
For as she thought this is his hert in dede,
She pricked herd and made her self to blede.
Wyatt also shows his preference to Shakespearean sonnets in number forty-five of Sylvester’s anthology as well as his earthy description of love’s affects. Below are the last six lines:
But syns that thus it is by destenye,
What can I more but have a wofull hart,
My penne in playnt, my voice in wofull crye.
My mynde in woe, my bodye full of smart,
And I my self my self always to hate,
Ti8ll dreadfull death do ease my dolefull state?
The above poems not only omit physical descriptors of Wyatt’s love interest, he tends to concentrate on expressing his own emotions.
In Astrophil and Stella, Sidney’s focus is on his unattainable love, Stella. He takes great pains to describe her beauty throughout the collection of sonnets. Number nine compares Queene Vertues court to Stella’s beauty. Her face is “Alabaster pure,” “Gold is covering of that stately place [her hair],” and “Marble mixt red and white do enterlace [the contrast between her cheeks and pale skin].” Wyatt further demonstrates the concept of fanciful longing for an unattainable love in sonnet number twenty-five:
Vertue of late with vertous care to ster
Love of her selfe, tooke Stellas shape, that she
To mortal eyes might sweetly shine in her.
It is most true, for since I her did see,
Vertues great beautie in that face I prove,
And find th’effect, for I do burne in love.
It is obvious that the collection of sonnets titled Astrophil and Stella were composed as a tribute to Stella, the writer’s one true affection.
Stella, the onely Planet of my light,
Light of my life, and life of my desire,
Chiefe good, whereto my hope doth only aspire,
World of my wealth, and heav’n of my delight.[7]
Sidney’s sonnets epitomized the notion that women were models and an inspiration to the point of being pathetic.
In contrast, Wyatt’s works provide a real, almost crass, view of his life. Wyatt inserted puzzles, almost riddles, into his poetry which provided entertainment and a challenge to its readers. Wyatt is described as “the innovator, the poet who suggested new possibilities, but he left much for his successors to develop and explore.”[8] His use of new historicism allows two interpretations of his work: at face value and relating the verse to historical context. Wyatt was an entertainer, viewing his place in court as an agitator and rumor-monger. Wyatt enjoyed “rocking the boat” and penning verse that was racy and controversial.
Sir Philip Sidney may have showed a strict adherence to the Petrarchian form of poetry, but it was Sir Thomas Wyatt’s ingenious use of words, phrases, and innuendoes that captured the interest of sixteenth century royalty.
_______________
[1] Richard S. Sylvester, English Sixteenth Century Verse: An Anthology (NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 1984), p. 597.
[2] Ibid, p. xxi.
[3] Ibid, p. 603.
[4] Ibid, p. xxv.
[5] Ibid, p. xx.
[6] Ibid, p. xxii.
[7] Ibid, p. 455.
[8] Ibid, p. xxiii.
Distinctive in structure, function, and concept, the Petrarchan Sonnet was created in Italy, but gained popularity and notoriety in Sixteenth Century England. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir Philip Sidney adopted this form, however while Sidney strictly adhered to its principles, Wyatt used poetic liberties, often straying from the conventional model.
Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 1542) was born in Allington, Kent, and educated at St. John’s College in Cambridge. His service at court included appointment to several foreign embassies, however his position at court was never secure. After being imprisoned twice, he retired to his country estate.[1] Sixteenth Century poet George Puttenham stated that Wyatt “greatly polished our rude & homely maner of vulgar Poesie from that it had bene before, and for that cause may justly be sayd the first reformers of our English meetre and style.”[2]
Contrastingly, Sir Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586) was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford. He travelled alone, then as a diplomatic emissary to the Elector Palatine, receiving fame as the foremost courtier of England. He was knighted in 1583, becoming the governor of Flushing. He died from the effects of a wound received in battle.[3] Verse prior to Sidney coming on the literary scene has been described as “amateurish if not naïf.” Sidney embraces the full weight of the Petrarchan tradition being the first poet to compose a full-length sonnet sequence in this style.[4]
The Petrarchan form of poetry is characterized by an octave with a rhyme scheme of abbaabba and a sestet with variations of the rhyme scheme, usually cdecde, cdccdc, cddcdd, cdcdcd, or cddcee. Wyatt, while trying to reproduce the effect of Italian weak endings, tended to stray from the conventional rhyme scheme of Petrarchan poetry. There is rising speculation as to whether Wyatt was deliberate in these variations.
In his second sonnet from Sylvester’s English Sixteenth Century Verse: An Anthology, Wyatt sways from the norm in the ending:
Wherewithall, unto the hertes forrest he fleith,
Leving his enterprise with payn and cry,
And ther him hideth and not appereth.
What may I do when my maister fereth
But in the feld with him to lyve and dye?
For goode is the liff, ending faithfully.
The first eight lines (prior to the above excerpt) follow the traditional abbaabba, however the last six lines show a weak, unorganized ending (cdccde). Wyatt used this unconventional ending in several other sonnets, as if he wanted to unsettle the reader at the conclusion of his work.
Sidney showed how verse and voice “could be made to combine and clash in restless harmony.”[5] He has also been described as a model of achievement of the sonneteers, leading others to write in the fashionable Petrarchan form.
In true Petrarchan form, the octave’s purpose is to introduce a problem, express a desire, reflect on reality, or present a situation that causes conflict within the speaker. The problem is usually introduced in the first quatrain, and expounded on in the second. The sestet’s purpose is to provide a solution to the problem, or at least comment on it.
Wyatt’s unorthodox endings seem to betray this theory of function, leaving the reader to develop his own comment or solution to the problem addressed. Several of his poems end each stanza with the same phrase, or variation of a general phrase. In number forty-seven, V. Innocentia Veritas Viat Fides, Wyatt chose to close each stanza with the phrase “circa Regna tonat.” In number forty-three, he ends each stanza with:
But ha, ha, ha, full well is me,
For I am nowe at libretye.
He chose to express the solution to his problem at the conclusion of each stanza, rather than waiting until the sestet.
Sidney follows the Petrarchan model of function in his famous compilation of sonnets, Astrophil and Stella. In number one, Stella’s stunning beauty overwhelms Astrophil’s desire and ability to write. The sestet tells Astrophil how he will be able to accomplish his writing. Each subsequent sonnet presents a problem or a reflection on reality, then either comments on its futileness or provides a solution.
The Petrarchan sonnet refers to the concept of unattainable love and depicted the lady as a model and inspiration. A notable characteristic is the blazon, or catalogue of the lady’s physical beauties. Another concept is the presentation of fanciful and paradoxical terms of the writer’s torments of longing for a disdainful mistress.
Wyatt chose to forego the fanciful flights of Petrarchanism; his love is earthy, self-centered, and often vengeful.[6] His sonnet number seventeen shows the lack of blazon:
Who hath herd of suche crueltye before?
That when my plaint remembred her my woo
That caused it, she cruell more and more
Wisshed eche stitche, as she did sit and soo,
Had prykt myn hert, for to encrese my sore.
And, as I thinck, she thought it had ben so:
For as she thought this is his hert in dede,
She pricked herd and made her self to blede.
Wyatt also shows his preference to Shakespearean sonnets in number forty-five of Sylvester’s anthology as well as his earthy description of love’s affects. Below are the last six lines:
But syns that thus it is by destenye,
What can I more but have a wofull hart,
My penne in playnt, my voice in wofull crye.
My mynde in woe, my bodye full of smart,
And I my self my self always to hate,
Ti8ll dreadfull death do ease my dolefull state?
The above poems not only omit physical descriptors of Wyatt’s love interest, he tends to concentrate on expressing his own emotions.
In Astrophil and Stella, Sidney’s focus is on his unattainable love, Stella. He takes great pains to describe her beauty throughout the collection of sonnets. Number nine compares Queene Vertues court to Stella’s beauty. Her face is “Alabaster pure,” “Gold is covering of that stately place [her hair],” and “Marble mixt red and white do enterlace [the contrast between her cheeks and pale skin].” Wyatt further demonstrates the concept of fanciful longing for an unattainable love in sonnet number twenty-five:
Vertue of late with vertous care to ster
Love of her selfe, tooke Stellas shape, that she
To mortal eyes might sweetly shine in her.
It is most true, for since I her did see,
Vertues great beautie in that face I prove,
And find th’effect, for I do burne in love.
It is obvious that the collection of sonnets titled Astrophil and Stella were composed as a tribute to Stella, the writer’s one true affection.
Stella, the onely Planet of my light,
Light of my life, and life of my desire,
Chiefe good, whereto my hope doth only aspire,
World of my wealth, and heav’n of my delight.[7]
Sidney’s sonnets epitomized the notion that women were models and an inspiration to the point of being pathetic.
In contrast, Wyatt’s works provide a real, almost crass, view of his life. Wyatt inserted puzzles, almost riddles, into his poetry which provided entertainment and a challenge to its readers. Wyatt is described as “the innovator, the poet who suggested new possibilities, but he left much for his successors to develop and explore.”[8] His use of new historicism allows two interpretations of his work: at face value and relating the verse to historical context. Wyatt was an entertainer, viewing his place in court as an agitator and rumor-monger. Wyatt enjoyed “rocking the boat” and penning verse that was racy and controversial.
Sir Philip Sidney may have showed a strict adherence to the Petrarchian form of poetry, but it was Sir Thomas Wyatt’s ingenious use of words, phrases, and innuendoes that captured the interest of sixteenth century royalty.
_______________
[1] Richard S. Sylvester, English Sixteenth Century Verse: An Anthology (NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 1984), p. 597.
[2] Ibid, p. xxi.
[3] Ibid, p. 603.
[4] Ibid, p. xxv.
[5] Ibid, p. xx.
[6] Ibid, p. xxii.
[7] Ibid, p. 455.
[8] Ibid, p. xxiii.