An examination of the sonnet from Petrarch to Browning.

5280 Words11 Pages

An examination of the sonnet from Petrarch to Browning.

A sonnet is a poem, which traditionally contains the subject of love.

The creator of the sonnet was a man named Francesco Petrarca who was

usually referred to as Petrarch. Petrarch wrote many of his sonnets

based upon himself, and his lover, Laura. The conventional format of a

sonnet contains fourteen lines, and is segregated to illustrate two

arguments. Every sonnet takes the conventional format of fourteen

lines, although the way the arguments are split up, may be different.

For example, Petrarch and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet both

take the format of an octave and a sestet, whereas Shakespeare's

sonnet takes the format of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The

arguments usually comprise of love juxtaposed against its opposite.

For example, love versus hate, and love versus death.

I have chosen to compare three sonnets. I will compare the subject of

their sonnet, the form of the sonnet, and the way that they depict

their argument in their sonnet. For example, how they have set out the

sonnet, and their use of language. I have chosen to compare,

Petrarch's, "XLL," and Shakespeare's, "Sonnet 138," and Barrett

Browning's, "XLIII."

The three sonnets that I have selected all contain the subject of

love, but do not compose of the same aspect of love. The subject of,

"Sonnet XXL," is about a woman named Laura, with whom the author

Francesco Petrarch fell deeply in love with, even though she did not

return his affections. Shakespeare's, "Sonnet 138," is about the

experience of being in love. He writes from a masculine perspective,

describing his lover as, "Unchaste, unfaithful, and dishonest."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's, "Sonnet XLIII,"...

... middle of paper ...

...ar the

most exceptional sonnet out of the three that I have chosen. I think

this because of his motivating subject, and the way he has used

different techniques of language and imagery. I think that his sonnet

depicts the subject of love very well. Petrarch's sonnet was the

second best sonnet out of the three, again for its subject. I felt

that it didn't compose of the same ingredients as Shakespeare's

sonnet, and it didn't contain as many uses of language and imagery as

Shakespeare's did. I found that Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet

was not as good as the other two because of the way she used very

little language and imagery, and because of the way that her subject

was constant throughout the sonnet. All three sonnets portrayed their

subject well, and used many techniques such as imagery and rhyme,

which helped the reader understand each sonnet more.

Open Document