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ELIZABETHAN POETRY, THE SONNET - Coggle Diagram

- - - - treatise that aims at establishing the nobility and social validity of poetry
      - the author affirms that poetry's aim is "to teach and delight", stressing its didactic and formative function, more effective than history or philosophy
        
        considers the poet as both prophet (latin vates) and maker (Greek, poietes) stressing how knowledgeable he is and underlining his function as a creator
    - - sonnet cycle of 108 sonnets and 11 songs, similar to Il Canzoniere
      - theme: love relationship between Astrophil, prototype of the chivalric hero longing for an ideal woman and Stella, embodiment of beauty and virtue. Impossibility of their union because of the distance between them.
      - Sonnet 45
        
        Made up of three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet
        (abba abb cdcd ff)
        
        Typical situation of Petrarchan sonnet: the poet is in despair, while the lady shows no sympathy. From the third quatrain onwards the poet reflects on the power of fancy which can be stronger than the 'reality' of his feelings. Therefore in the final couplet he invites his beloved to consider him not as a real man but as a fictional character.
      - Sidney does not imitate Petrarch's style unquestioningly but the poet insist on self-reflection and dialogue between the 2 characters instead of emphasising the male leading character's suffrance
- - - - 1 - 126
        
        addressed to a Fair Youth, unnamed young man, either the Earl of Southampton or that of Pembroke, both his friends and patrons. The relationship between the portando the fair youth is described as oscillating between romantic intimacy and platonic love
        
        2 other subgroups
        
        Sonnets 1-17 encourage the youth to marry as a way of ensuring a continuity of life
        
        Sonnets 76-86 refer to a rival poet, probably Marlowe or George Chapman, even if there is no evidence that he had a counter-part in real life
        
        Sonnet 20
        
        deals with the poet's passion for the Fair Youth whose virtues attract both men and women. Though initially created to be a woman, in the end Nature herself fell in love with him and added a "last touch" in order to make him a man. Explicit reference to homosexuality is softened in the final couplet by the poet's renounciation to the youth's sensual love which is meant only for women's pleasure, but emotionally he keeps his love for himself.
        
        Sonnet 18
        
        comprehension The poet's addresse is superior to a summer day because he is more beautiful and more temperate. The eye of heaven is the sun and when it is to hot his gold complexion is dimmed. Nature's changin course destroys beauty but the poet's addressee won't fade because the poetry will make him immortal
        
        form rhyming scheme abab cdcd efef gg central idea in the quatrains also summed up in the final couplet : beauty is destined to fade but poetry allows beauty to be immortal
        so long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
        So long lives this, and this gives life to thee
      - 153 e 154
        
        deal with stories of Cupid and the loss of his "brand", playing with the erotic theme
      - 127 - 152
        
        dedicated to a Dark Lady, a mysterious lady whom the poet loved at first passionately and later blamed because of her unfaithfulness (probably his mistress). She was married and they were both unfaithful so he expresses his disappointment. These sonnets are explicitly sexual in character. The darkness of the Lady represents the dark forces of physical lust as opposed to the ideal Platonic love associate with the Fair Youth
        
        Sonnet 130
        
        It mocks the conventions of courtly sonnets by underlining the physical imperfections of the Dark Lady. Yet, the poet praises the power of love, which renders her more beautiful to her lover than any other woman whose beauty is falsely exalted
    - - he addressed many of his love sonnets to a man rather than to a woman
      - he described the Dark Lady in realistic and unflattering terms rather than idealising her
      - he spoke not only about love but also about human and social evils; commented on political events; parodied beauty; played with gender roles and spoke overtly about sex
  - - - Narrative tragedy, ambitious. Seven-line stanzas based on the story of the rape of a virtuous Roman noblewoman by the li bidinous son of King Tarquin
    - - erotic narrative in verse. Six-line stanzas, describes the courtship of a reluctant young man by a mature goddess, showing a passive male sexuality against an active female one
- - - - plot
        
        original plan 12 books revolving around the adventures of twelve knights of the court of the Fairy Queen, each symbolising one of the 12 virtues in honour of the 12 days of the Queen's annual feast.
        
        Only 6 books published
        
        Book I - Holiness
        
        Deals with the adventures of Red Cross Knight who has to reach Holiness, symbol of the Anglican Church, possible only through his union with Virgin Una, symbol of Truth. During his journey he is thwarted by Archimago (the Pope) and Duessa (the Catholic Church). He celebrates his union with Una and comes back to Gloriana's court
        
        Book II - Temperance
        
        Sir Guyon, knight of Temperance, has to defend himself against the temptations menacing the health of both body and soul (Lack, Excess, Rage). Helped by Palmer (Reason), he triumphs by destroying Corruption
        
        Book III - Chastity
        
        adventures of Britomart, female knight, personification of Chastity. She travels around enchanted lands dressed as a knight in order to find her lost beloved Arthegall. She is able to defeat Lust in favour of a chaste and moderate Love
        
        Book V - Justice
        
        adventures of Sir Arthegall and his lovesickness for Britomart. Patriotic theme emerges through the reference to historical and political events of the Tudor reign
        
        Book VI - Courtesy
        
        Calidore, knight of Courtesy
        
        Book IV - Friendship
        
        story of Cambell and Triamond, two characters derived from one of Chaucer's tales
      - plan, theme and interpretation
        
        Spenser explained the plan of his masterpiece in his letter to Sir Walter Raleigh where he
        
        described the allegorical presentation of virtues through Arthurian knights in the mytical Faerieland. Main characters are Gloriana, the Faerie Queen and Prince Arthur symbolising Magnificence in the Aristotelian sense of perfection and the most virtuous of the knights in the end he was supposed to marry Gloriana
        
        suggests that the Tudor lineage can be connected to King Arthur
        
        explained the allegorical meaning of the Faerie Queene who is abstractly Glory but humanly Queen Elizabeth
        
        explained the main intent of his work which was to portray the virtues of a perfect knight to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline
        
        discussed the literary models of his poem such as Homer, Virgil and the Italian poets Ariosto and Tasso whose works blend qualities of the epic with romance. The aim is to create a base for English National Literature and pay hommage to Queen Elizabeth, cekebrating Tudor dinasty
      - form
        
        longest poem in the English Literature written in the so-called Spenserian stanza that he created by modifying Ariosto's ottava rima. 8 lines of 10 syllables (iambic pentameter) + 1 line of 12 syllables (Alexandrine line in iambic hexameter) rhyming ababbcbcc
    - - The Shepeardes Calender
        
        12 eclogues for each month of the year, dialogues among shepherds, modelled on pastoral poems of Virgil and Theocritus, influenced by Chaucer and Skelton
      - Colin Clouts Come Home Again
        
        allegorical pastoral poem dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh, describing his visit to Spenser in Ireland
      - Amoretti
        
        89 Petrarchan sonnets devoted tomthe courtship of Soenser's wife-to-be Elizabeth Boyle. Only case of joyful love and hapily ending in marriage
      - Epithalamion
        
        hymn made up of 24 stanzas which celebrate love and the poet's wedding