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ENGLISH 12
Renaissance Poetry Study Guide
Characteristics of Sonnets
1.
2.
3.
4.
subject is often about love
usually contain Petrarchan conventions
14 lines with rigid structure: meter and rhyme scheme
usually present a problem and a solution
Metaphysical poetry
1. intellectual and elaborate comparisons called conceits
2. references to philosophy, science and theology
3. often contain abstract riddles to be solved by the reader
John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”
Literally “a farewell forbidding sadness”
Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd”
TYPE OF POEM: ___________________ TONE: ________________
Sir Walter Raleigh’s The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”
TYPE OF POEM: ___________________ TONE: ________________
Petrarch’s Sonnets (on handout)
“III”
SUBJECT: ________________________________________
RHYME SCHEME: ________________________________
“XL”
SUBJECT: ________________________________________
RHYME SCHEME: ________________________________
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
“Sonnet 29”
SUBJECT: ________________________________________
“Sonnet 73”
SUBJECT: ________________________________________
“Sonnet 116”
SUBJECT: ________________________________________
Poetry Terms: KNOW THE TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
sonnet
metaphysical
Petrarchan
abba abba cde cde
Shakespearean
abab cdcd efef gg
pastoral
madrigal
couplet
quatrain
conceit
iambic pentameter
QUESTIONS:
What qualities does the object of Petrarch’s love in many of his sonnets possess?
How does the life the shepherd envision contrast with the nymph’s?
Notes on Sonnet 29
1. The speaker envies luck, material prospects, optimism, appearance, friends, talent and
power.
2. The turn in the sonnet occurs in line 10 – “Haply I think on thee, and then my state,”
3. The remembrance of the beloved and the beloved’s sweet love changes the speaker’s
mind.
Notes on Sonnet 73
1. The three metaphors compare the speaker to a bare tree in autumn, the twilight after
sunset, and the glowing embers of a fire.
2. The beloved’s love is stronger with the realization that the speaker must die soon.
6. The seasonal and daily imagery reinforces the sonnet’s somber and melancholy tone.
Notes on Sonnet 116
1. Love is a seamark and the North Star that sailors use to navigate. Love is not Time’s
fool.
2. The speaker defines love by what it is not (ll. 2-4 and 9-11). Love is NOT something that
alters easily of changes with little encouragement.
3. Time is a reaper with a sickle who “cuts down” rosy lips and cheeks.