28.10.10                                                   NOTES

The sonnet is a lyrical form of poetry of fourteen lines. It entered England later than Europe, during the Renaissance.

Lyrical form of poetry: it speaks about private, personal matters.

Narrative poem is a form of poetry that tells stories.

Reflective poetry proves feelings.

The Italian sonnet is organized into an octave and a sestet. The sestet tries to give a possible solution, while the octave poses a problem.

The Elizabethan sonnet is organized into three quatrains and a final couplet.

The quatrains covered the same function of the Italian octave and the couplet and the final couplet had the function of the sestet.

English sonneteers tried to translate the Italian sonnet into English.

In the Italian sonnet rhythm is given by the length of syllables. In the English one it is given by the stressed words.

We talked about an English sonnet: “Shall I compare”. The title refers to the first line of the sonnet. It was written by Shakespeare. It is composed of three quatrains and a couplet. The author compares a man with a season, summer. He talks about “the fair youth”: the protagonist of the sonnet turns out to be better in any sense. Shakespeare wrote the young man of the description should not be compared to a summer day: summer is too hot, short and dangerous. It is dangerous because wind during summer shakes roses and flowers, and they fall. Moreover, sometimes the youth is dimmed by the sun and it hides his beauty. The author describes the young man ‘eternal’, he has got beauty.