The Love Sonnets of Petrarch and Shakespeare

-It’s likely that none of you will ever be literature professors, so how could this

skill/process help you in your life?

…Why bother doing this?

…On the practical side, knowing how to de-code complicated texts can help you in your

career no matter what you do- tech people deal with tech talk, business people work with

business jargon, lawyers deal with legalese, and at the very least, all of you will sign some form of legal document in your life, and this process

can help you build this skill of rewording complicated texts

…Why bother doing this?

…This activity can also prove edifying to you as a person. The poets we will look at today are

remarkably important in the history of literature. Of course you already know that

about Shakespeare, but you’ll also get a chance to see how influential Petrarch is and how

much he influenced Shakespeare.

…Why bother doing this?

…Furthermore, you may feel entirely removed from love poetry- you may think you’re too

modern (or maybe too macho) to appreciate love sonnets from nearly a thousand years ago- but approach this with an open mind and you

might just ‘get’ why people still talk about these particular poems after all this time

(there has to be some reason, right?)

…Why bother doing this?

With that, let’s begin with a little background…

…Why bother doing this?

Petrarch

-14th Century Writer-Famous for his love poetry:

Sonnets focused on a woman referred to as ‘Laura’

-It is said that Petrarch never talked to ‘Laura’, only seeing her once at church on

Good Friday

As we read through these poems,try to think of how you would rephrase

these words in your own terms.

…This may be a bit challenging, but here are a couple of tips…

1) Read the subtitle for a quick summation of the poem

2) Keep in mind the poet’s overall purpose- to praise his beloved

3) Pay attention to the definitions given in the footnotes

As we read through these poems,try to think of how you would rephrase

these words in your own terms.

Another note: It may help you to understand that, in love poetry, the person the poet is writing about is

called ‘the beloved’

Also, as we read through these poems,let’s look to answer the following questions:

1. What is the central idea of this text?2. How does the poet develop that idea (using specific

details)?3. How would you summarize this text?

Let’s take a look at a few themes we’ve seen in these sonnets….

Let’s take a look at a few themes we’ve seen in these sonnets….

-The poet is unable to express the beauty of the beloved in “Sonnet 18”

-Nature praises the beloved in “Sonnet 159”-Love leads to joy and sorrow in “Sonnet 104”

Now we’re going to read sonnets by Shakespeare, still looking out for the central idea, how Shakespeare

develops that idea, and how we would summarize the poem….

…Keep in mind that even though Petrarch died in 1374 and Shakespeare wasn’t born until 1564 (nearly

200 years later), Petrarch’s poems were still very popular and Shakespeare’s sonnets would have been written with Petrarch’s in the forefront of his mind…

…So as we read, let’s think about how Shakespeare draws on Petrarch’s style, themes, and general

approach to writing a love sonnet

As you take a look at the sample essay given to you, make a few notes about citation:

1) Always mention which poet’s sonnet you are referring to before you make a quote or reference a line- i.e.

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” OR Petrarch’s “Sonnet 18”2) As you see above, put the title of the particular sonnet

in quotation marks3) Put the line number quoted or referenced directly after

the reference in parentheses4) If you include two or more lines, include a dash- /

between the two lines5) If you skip past any parts, insert an ellipses in brackets

[…]

Another note on the sample essay :Remember not to go too in-depth on your summary,

as you may end up repeating yourself in your analysis.You’re expected to provide a brief and accurate

summary of the poem, you’ll go into detail in your analysis.