Sonnets and metaphysical poetry

a poem usually of 14 lines in which the poet examines two usually contrasting ideas, emotions, states of mind, beliefs, actions, events, images, etc., by juxtaposing the two against each other, and possibly resolving or just revealing the tensions created and operative between the two

• Italian

• Spenserian
and English

• Divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds

• The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes a b b a a b b a

• The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways
§ c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c
§ The exact pattern of sestet rhymes (unlike the octave pattern) is flexible.

§ In Italian sonnets, the sestet generally does NOT end with a rhymed couplet (dd or ee)

the turn of events; normally in about the middle of the poem.

it is very essential to the overall meaning. it is when the second idea in introduced

• Invented by Edmund Spenser
§ Has the pattern: a b a b b c b c c d c d e e

• Also contains a volta

• Consists of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet:
§ a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g

• As in the Spenserian, each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.

• Also contains a volta

science and spirituality

Samuel Johnson

he did not write for a public audience; he only wrote for other poets

Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick

1. a figure of speech that employs unusual and paradoxical images in comparison.
2. These comparisons make a point.
3. normally the comparison is with something that is beyond the senses to something scientific

deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major or minor premise and conclusion… a=b and b=c therefore a=c

1. emotion
2. possibilities and truth
3. personal action in an Ambiguous Cosmos
4. Theory of Correspondence
5. inconstant woman

life doesn’t matter; at the mercy of fate

interlocking relationships between the heavens, earth, body, politics, and man- all of which are expressions of God

• The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes a b b a a b b a

• The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways
§ c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c
§ The exact pattern of sestet rhymes (unlike the octave pattern) is flexible.
§ In Italian sonnets, the sestet generally does NOT end with a rhymed couplet (dd or ee)

a b a b b c b c c d c d e e

• Consists of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet:
§ a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g