Petrarch

• Italian poet Francesco Petrarca or more commonly known as Petrarch


  Father of Humanism
• Lifespan of Petrarch

  July 20, 1304 - July 18/19, 1374
• Why is Petrarch considered as Father of Humanism?

  he helped to popularize the study of the classical world and literature
• Petrarch is considered one of the founding scholars of the Italian Renaissance.
• he rediscovered many manuscripts in monasteries and had Greek works translated to Latin, so that they could be more readily read and studied.
• Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry.
• Petrarch did not invent the poetic form that bears his name. It was likely named after him as a perfecter of the existing sonnet form.
• The word “sonnet” itself stems from the Italian word “sonetto,” which itself derives from the Latin “suono,” meaning “a sound.”
• Number of lines in a Petrarchan Sonnet

  14
• The lines of a Petrarchan Sonnet are divided into an eight-line subsection (called an octave) followed by a six-line subsection (called a sestet).
• The octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA
• The “Crybin” variant on the Petrarchan sonnet contains a different rhyme scheme for the opening octave: ABBA CDDC.
• The sestet follows one of two rhyme schemes: CDE CDE or CDC CDC
• It is sometimes called the “Sicilian sestet,” named for the dialect used by Petrarch himself


  CDC CDC
• purpose of octave

  introduce a problem, express a desire, reflect on reality, present a situation that causes doubt or conflict
• purpose of sestet

  make a comment on the problem, apply a solution
• Petrarch's Ideal Woman

  Laura de Noves
• Laura became his Muse the minute he saw her outside a church on Good Friday.
• He wrote 365 sonnets for her or a poem a day.
• Laura was married and died of the plague, therefore, represented the epitome of unrequited love.
• Theme in Petrarch's Sonnets

  love from afar, unrequited love, spiritualizing earthly love, and the uncertain self, the self at odds with himself.
• Shakespearean sonnets are not just written exclusively by Shakespeare but he is credited to be a master of the form
• Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.
• A volta is a turn of thought or argument in the sonnet. It comes from the Italian word for “turn”.
• to let the readers know of the main thoughts and the conclusion of the sonnet.

  purpose of volta
• volta in Petrarchan sonnet

  end of octave
• volta in Shakespearean sonnet

  end of twelfth line
• Alternative name of Shakespearean sonnet

  Elizabethan
• Alternative name for Petrarchan sonnet

  Italian