The task wanted us to write a comparison between the sonnet “Passa la nave mia colma d’oblio” by Petrarch and the sonnet “My galley charged with forgetfulness” by Thomas Wyatt. The English sonneteer translated Petrarch's sonnet into English, but there are some problems with rhythm. As a matter of fact in the English language rhythm is given by the alternation of stressed and unstressed words, on the other hand in the Italian language rhythm depends on the length of syllables. The verses in the Wyatt’s sonnet don’t finish their meaning in the line but they end it in the following one; as a consequence, there are 15 verses, one more than the Petrarch's one. The two sonnets have the same structure, the Petrarch's one. As a matter of fact we have to remember that Wyatt lived before the Earl of Surrey who created the Elizabethan sonnet arranged into three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet. These two sonnets are organized into an octave and a sestet.

The rhyme scheme isn’t the same in both texts because in the Petrarch's text it is ABBA CDDC in the octave and in the sestet ABC ABC. However in the Wyatt's sonnet it doesn't follow a regular scheme. The words used by Wyatt are very sad and negative in order to underline the concept of the travel by the galley which is full of forgetfulness and the problems that this has to face. The language used is more concrete as well because English language is more concrete than Italian. On the other hand Petrarch's  sonnet give a sensation of quietness created by the sound devices such as the metaphors. Both sonnets give the reader an idea of confusion and fear. As a matter of fact he doesn’t know what is going on and try to share the feelings with the sonneteer who is confused at the same time.

At line 1 the reader can immediately see that the word chosen by Wyatt, as a translation for “barca”, is “galley” which is a specific boat for wars. This means that the journey that the sonneteer is going to undertake is hard. At the same line, the Italian word “oblio” is translated as “forgetfulness” which is a very concrete word. At line 3 Wyatt translates “Scilla and Cariddi” with the simpler words “Rock and Rock” to simplify the concept to English people. Maybe they didn’t know where this place was. On the other hand Petrarch readers could know this because it is in Italy.

At line 6, the reader understands that in Wyatt’s sonnet the desperation of the main character is stronger in fact he says that in that situation death was better than life. However this concept isn’t said in Petrarch sonnet.  

At line 9, Petrarch's sonnet says that the disdain is similar to a fog while Wyatt prefers comparing it to a dark cloud. This means that he likes using a more concrete image that can represent better the oppressive situation the main character is facing.

At lines 10 and 11, Petrarch says that the wind is slowing down the ship.  Although Wyatt  thinks that it is a problem, an obstacle, that stops the galley.

At line 12 Petrarch refers to the two signs as the sweetest for him while Wyatt defines them as the stars that led him to such a situation. 

To conclude both sonnets end showing the lack of hope of the two people that are speaking because they are afraid they won’t reach peace and salvation.