Renaissance Poetry POK: Poetic Structure

Sir Thomas Wyatt: Whoso List to Hunt

- Petrarchan sonnet w/ closing couplet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines

- ABBA ABBA CDDC EE

- Speaker is chasing a beautiful "deer" (the woman) so long he's tired. Pursuing her is hopeless as catching the wind, as she's claimed by "Caesar"

- "deer"/woman is supposedly Anne Bolyen, wife of King Henry VIII

Marlowe: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

- Pastoral poem

- Iambic tetrameter

- 6 quatrains

- AABB, CCDD, EEFF, GGHH.. (rhyming couplets)

- Shepherd tries to persuade his love to move in with him and enjoy a rural life (beds of roses, fine wool clothes)

Raleigh: The Nymph's Reply

- Pastoral "reply poem" to Marlowe

- Iambic tetrameter

- 6 quatrains

- AABB, CCDD, EEFF, GGHH... (rhyming couplets)

- The nymph rejects the shepherd, saying time ruins youth, so his promises can't last.

Shakespeare: Sonnet 18

- Shakespearean sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines: 3 quatrains + 1 couplet

- ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

- Speaker says the lover outshines summer and won't fade, because the poem will keep the lover alive through reader's eyes

- in the "Fair Youth" sonnets

Shakespeare: Sonnet 130

- Shakespearean sonnet/Anti-Petrarchan sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines: 3 quatrains + 1 couplet

- ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

- Speaker describes his mistress realistically; refuses to lie with stereotypical compliments

- in the "Dark Lady" sonnets

Sonnet 29 by Shakespeare

- Shakespearean sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines: 3 quatrains + 1 couplet

- ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

- Speaker is miserable, self-pitying, depressed about having little friends, fame, looks. Volta remembers his lover, is so high he wouldn't trade places with kings.

- in the "Fair Youth" sonnets

Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare

- Shakespearean sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines: 3 quatrains + 1 couplet

- ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

- True love doesn't change with time and obstacles, instead is steady and overcomes time's scythe.

- in the "Fair Youth" sonnets

Twenty-Third Psalm by David

- Biblical/Hebrew poetry

- 6 verses

- no meter, instead includes parallelism

- God is a shepherd who provides, guides, protects, and welcomes the speaker as a guest

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by Donne

- Metaphysical love poem (compass, gold)

- Iambic tetrameter

- 9 quatrains

- ABAB (alternating rhyme)

- Speaker tells lover to not grieve their separation, as their love is spiritual and stretches without breaking

Death, be not proud (Holy Sonnet 10) by Donne

- Metaphysical/Petrarchan sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines

- ABBA, ABBA, CDDCEE

- Death is weak and temporary, as it is only a brief "sleep" and ultimately Death itself will die

On My First Son by Jonson

- Elegy

- Iambic pentameter

- 12 lines

- AABB, CCDD, EEFF

- Father grieves his son, guilts over having too much hope, and makes the loss as a release from life's pain

- About Johnson's first son Benjamin

To Lucasta, Going to the War by Lovelace

- Cavalier lyric

- Iambic tetrameter/trimeter

- 3 quatrains

- ABAB, CDCD, EFEF

- Tells Lucasta (holy light in Latin) he chases a new mistress--war. He claims to love her because he loves honor more

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Herrick

- "Carpe diem" lyric

- Iambic tetrameter/trimeter

- 4 quatrains

- ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH (ballaf like alt rhyme)

- Young people (virgins) should act now before youth and opportunity vanish

To His Coy Mistress by Marvell

- "Carpe diem" lyric

- Iambic tetrameter

- 3 verse paragraphs

- AA, BB, CC... (rhyming couplets)

- If they had endless time, he would wait for his "coy" mistress; however, time is running out of time, so they should "carpe diem"

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent by Milton

- Petrarchan sonnet

- Iambic pentameter

- 14 lines

- ABBA ABBA CDECDE

- Frustration about his blindness limiting his poetry and faith--> resolves that patient faith is true service

- Written after Milton becomes blind

Excerpt from Paradise Lost by Milton

- Epic poem

- Iambic pentameter

- Continuous verse

- Blank verse (unrhymed)

- Satan's rebellion and humanity's Fall