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The octave progresses through a series of examples of creatures and people who are not bothered by restricted spaces.Consider William Wordsworth's “Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room” as an example for analysis X Research source : The turn, or volta, occurs at the beginning of the sestet (Line 9) the sestet offers new insight into the dilemma presented in the octave. The octave introduces and presents a problem. As such, it's well-suited to complex issues that require a lot of room to resolve, rather than the easy, witty resolution of a Shakespearean sonnet's closing couplet. Whereas the Shakespearean sonnet has a top-heavy structure of 3 quatrains and a couplet, the Petrarchan sonnet is a little more balanced, using an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet to develop the poem's subject. Again, this couplet continues the imagery of commerce (losses).ĭevelop content as the Petrarchan stanzaic structure demands. There is no resolution to the problem of mourning here, but there is insight into grief and loss: to think of your memory is wonderful enough to make me feel as though I never lost anything. The closing couplet marks a turn with the word “But,” which suggests that this is not a continuation (like “Then”), but a new thought.Quatrain 3 begins again with the transition word “Then,” and further develops the idea using the language of commerce (accounts, payment): Not only do I cry, but I cry heavily, as though I've never mourned this loss before.
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In this quatrain, he uses the language of commerce to develop the idea: cancelled woe and expenses.
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Think of each quatrain as a little thought bubble, like a paragraph, in which you explore an element of the subject of your poem. Although your poem should have a single focus, each stanza of the sonnet should develop the idea further. We have also produced the video on a central formal device of the sonnet, oxymoron, that explains the term and offers more examples of sonnets and their themes.Develop your stanzas thoughtfully. Writing Prompt: What aspects of the poem's content make it an appropriate fit for the sonnet form? What aspects of the poem might make it less appropriate for that form? What ironic message do you think the poem conveys through its contrast between the speaker's vision of the dancer and the other "youths" in the poem" Especially if the poem has fourteen lines, look a little closer, even if it isn’t about love: poets have continued to use this form to explore a range of subjects, including war, religion, and the value of poetry itself.Ĭlaude McKay's sonnet " The Harlem Dancer" presents an interesting and complex tension between the sonnet form and content of the poem. It may not always be obvious that you’re reading a sonnet. In this poem, line 9 introduces a complication signaled by the word “But,” and it also brings in a new rhyme with the word “fade.” Sonnets typically have a “turn”, a place where the argument AND the rhyme scheme change. When you read a sonnet, it’s important to think about what the poet is saying but also how.
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