MB UNIUD

REVIEWING THE SONNET FORM

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The Sonnet is a lyrical form of poetry which spread in Europe.

The word sonnet comes from the Italian, "Sonetto", that arises from the Occitan and by the word "Sonet" that refers to a song accompanied by music. "Sonet" results from the word "Son", corresponding to the English term "sound", properly song.

The literary form has an Italian origin. Giacomo da Lentini, head of the Sicilian School under Frederik II (ca. 1250), made the sonnet. But about the origin of the poem there are many theories.

Probably it comes out by the union of two Strambotti (popular literary form of Sicily), or It is a stanza of a song isolated and rearranged.

However after the XI Century, other Italian poets used the sonnet: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Guido Cavalcanti (1250-1300) and finally, the most relevant sonneteer, Francesco Petrarca (known in English as Petrarch).

The importance of this figure, is given by his influence in other culture, in particular in the English world.

Petrarch introduced into the English literature the concept of Humanism.

At first it conditioned the production of Geoffrey Chaucer, and later his work inspired a new form of literature: the English sonnet.

So in the XIV-XV Century, the most important types of sonnet were: the Italian sonnet, and the English one.

The Italian sonnet was strictly made by two stanzas, one octave (two quatrains) and one sestet (two tercets), fourteen lines in total; in the quatrains the problem is explained while in the tercets the possible solutions of the problem are given.

The rhyme scheme and the sound pattern is predetermined, and the sonneteers could only choose one of the two different models.

Usually the theme of the Italian sonnet is Love.

Sonneteers dealt withlove in different ways.

Cavalcanti and Dante told about their feelings foran angel-woman, an imaginary  and perfect woman whose function was to link  man and God.

Petrarch wrote about his real love for Laura.

In both cases the woman is perfect, beautiful, and she has Sicilian features: blonde hair and blue eyes.

The difference is that for the first time Petrarch  wrote about his physical attraction for Laura.

The theme of the English Sonnet is approximately the same, but the most important writer of sonnets dealt with this theme in another way.

First of all we have to describe how this poem was introduced into English literature and how it is organized.

During the reign of Henry the VIII, in the first part of the XVI Century there was a courtier and ambassador to Europe that bought home the sonnet as souvenir from Italy.

The official, Sir Thomas Wyatt, translated and imitated the Italian sonnet, not changing the arrangement of sound patterns, but modifying structure.

The English sonnet was made of three quatrains and a couplet.

The subject of the English sonnet were at first the conventional Italian theme and in the XVII Century, when the Sonnet was called also Shakespearean sonnet, the topics included the meditation on time, beauty, poetry, rivalry, friendship and the meaning of life. Of course the theme of love overstayed, but Shakespeare dealt with it in another way.

The woman being the subject of Shakespearean love, was a dark lady, ugly, smelly, dirty and rude.

But he loved her all the same.

The message taken by this sonnet is the power of love: a feeling able to step over the physical appearance.

This is a real women but the sonneteer isn't afraid not to love her because she might become ugly.

In sonnet number 29, the woman's figure is emphasized.

The writer doesn't want to make the people laugh: he wants to underline the real features of a person, imperfections in particular.

The message given by Shakespearean poems is one of the main thoughts of Renaissance.

Man is the centre of the world, with all his features, bad and good ones.

As a matter of fact the Renaissance is the rediscovery of  classical culture: classics provide an example for humanity, so man and his feelings are the centre of attention.