An examination of the sonnet from Petrarch to Browning....

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 Brownings sonnet both take the format of an octave and a sestet, whereas Shakespeares sonnet takes the format of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.†¦show more content†¦The Petrarchan sonnet is in the form of an octave and a sestet, which explores the personas experience of unrequited love. In the octave, Petrarch is searching for his lost lover, Laura. This can be proven in the first line of the sonnet, A thousand times to make my peace I sought. The persona describes his deep love for Laura by using descriptive and metaphorical language. He elevates Laura to a high point by using religious imagery, while he is still below her. And offer you my heart; but little thought had your proud spirit to look down so low. This line also tells us that the persona had offered his love to Laura, but she rejected it; she did not return his affections. From the fourth line and onwards, love is described as being imprisoned. Yet if another would that heart enchain, is an example of this. He believes that Laura is not accepting his love because she has changing dreams and hopes, which are just imaginary. She lives in fickle hopes and dreams untrue. He is also speaking about how any other woman would have hopes and dreams about capturing his heart because it is bound to Laura. In the seventh line of the octave, Petrarch has mentioned about how the persona has things in common with his lover Laura. For example, he hates the things that she hates. Since I despise all the things that you disdain. In the sestet of, Sonnet XXL, the subject changes from the search for love, to the journey of love.Show MoreRelatedIdealised love hope and mortality in The Great Gatsby and Sonnets from the Portuguese5394 Words   |  22 PagesElizabeth Barret-Brownings Sonnets from the Portuguese and F. Scott. Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby both reflect, in abstract style and varying contexts and elements, the experience of idealised love, hope and mortality. The elements employed by Barret-Browning and Fitzgerald, differ in their depictions of these themes through various literary devices, two of which are points of view and motifs/symbols. Barret-Brownings sonnet sequence illustrates a complex evolution of emotions as the poet