Literary Terms: Elizabethan Unit (Renaissance Unit)
Note: The terms: aside, romances/tragicomedies, and soliloquy will be covered in our next unit. They will NOT be on the Renaissance/17th Century unit exam.
Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Example:
At the end of Sonnet 29 Shakespeare writes:
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Extended Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar. “Life is a dream,” and “Life is a hard road,” are examples of metaphors. An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is extended throughout a poem. In Whoso List to Hunt, Thomas Wyatt compares a lover’s pursuit of a woman, to a hunter’s pursuit of a deer.
Iambic Pentameter: (See iambic Pentameter Page)
Imagery: Words or phrases that create pictures, or images, in the reader’s mind. Images are primarily visual, but can appeal to the other senses as well: touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
Octave: An eight-line poem or stanza. Usually the term octave refers to the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Pastoral poem: A type of poem that deals in an idealized way with shepherds and rustic life. (The word “pastoral” comes from the Latin word for Shepherd, pastor). An example of a Pastoral poem from this unit is The Passionate Shepherd to his Love by Christopher Marlowe. The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd by Walter Raleigh could be considered “Anti-pastoral” because it has a realistic tone.
Petrarchan Sonnet: Named after the Italian poet Petrarch who used this form extensively. Also know as an “Italian” sonnet. Rhyme scheme is usually an octave (first 8 lines) and a sestet (last 6 lines):
ABBA ABBA CDE CDE or ABBA ABBA CDDC EE or ABBA ABBA CD CD CD
Sestet: A six-line poem or stanza. Usually the term sestet refers to the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Shakespearean Sonnet: Named after William Shakespeare. Also know as an “English” or “Elizabethan” sonnet. Rhyme scheme follows three quatrains (sets of four lines) and a couplet:
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Sonnet: A fourteen line lyric poem written in rhymed iambic pentameter.
Volta: A change in theme or tone in a sonnet. Sonnets are often found between the octave and the sestet (between the 8th and 9th line), or sometimes in the final couplet of a Shakespearean sonnet. Voltas are sometimes marked by key words such as “yet” or “but”.
Example:
The volta in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 occurs in the 9th line:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Some sonnets do not have a volta., for example, Holy Sonnet 6 by John Donne.
Note: The terms: aside, romances/tragicomedies, and soliloquy will be covered in our next unit. They will NOT be on the Renaissance/17th Century unit exam.
Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Example:
At the end of Sonnet 29 Shakespeare writes:
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Extended Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar. “Life is a dream,” and “Life is a hard road,” are examples of metaphors. An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is extended throughout a poem. In Whoso List to Hunt, Thomas Wyatt compares a lover’s pursuit of a woman, to a hunter’s pursuit of a deer.
Iambic Pentameter: (See iambic Pentameter Page)
Imagery: Words or phrases that create pictures, or images, in the reader’s mind. Images are primarily visual, but can appeal to the other senses as well: touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
Octave: An eight-line poem or stanza. Usually the term octave refers to the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Pastoral poem: A type of poem that deals in an idealized way with shepherds and rustic life. (The word “pastoral” comes from the Latin word for Shepherd, pastor). An example of a Pastoral poem from this unit is The Passionate Shepherd to his Love by Christopher Marlowe. The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd by Walter Raleigh could be considered “Anti-pastoral” because it has a realistic tone.
Petrarchan Sonnet: Named after the Italian poet Petrarch who used this form extensively. Also know as an “Italian” sonnet. Rhyme scheme is usually an octave (first 8 lines) and a sestet (last 6 lines):
ABBA ABBA CDE CDE or ABBA ABBA CDDC EE or ABBA ABBA CD CD CD
Sestet: A six-line poem or stanza. Usually the term sestet refers to the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet.
Shakespearean Sonnet: Named after William Shakespeare. Also know as an “English” or “Elizabethan” sonnet. Rhyme scheme follows three quatrains (sets of four lines) and a couplet:
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Sonnet: A fourteen line lyric poem written in rhymed iambic pentameter.
Volta: A change in theme or tone in a sonnet. Sonnets are often found between the octave and the sestet (between the 8th and 9th line), or sometimes in the final couplet of a Shakespearean sonnet. Voltas are sometimes marked by key words such as “yet” or “but”.
Example:
The volta in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 occurs in the 9th line:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Some sonnets do not have a volta., for example, Holy Sonnet 6 by John Donne.