Petrarchan sonnet

The sonnet was invented in Sicily in the thirteenth century by Giacomo da Lentini, but it was developed and refined in the fourteenth century by the poet and scholar Petrarch (Francesco Petrarcha,1304-1374), who established the conventions of the so called Petrarchan or Italian sonnet. This model was followed by Italian poets and by some English poets (e.g., Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)), though not by Shakespeare.

The Petrarchan sonnet has two main distinguishing features:

• It has a distinctive rhyme scheme. The first eight lines (or octave) have the pattern a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a, while for the final six lines (or sestet) there are various possibilities, e.g., c-d-d-c-d-d, or c-d-c-d-c-d, or c-d-e-c-d-e, or c-d-d-c-e-e. A Petrarchan sonnet, therefore, uses at most five rhymes, unlike a Shakespearean sonnet, which uses seven. (See further Sonnet and Three types of sonnet.)

• Between the octave and the sestet there is usually a change in the direction of the poet's line of thought. For example, the octave may describe a situation, while the sestet comments on the situation; or the octave may present a problem, to which the sestet proposes a solution. The technical term used to describe this change in the direction of the poet's line of thought is the Italian word volta, which means 'turn'.

Here, as an example of a Petrarchan sonnet is Poem 292 from Petrarch's collection Il canzoniere (The Songbook). Almost all of Petrarch's poetry is concerned with his unrequited and idealised love for Laura, and this sonnet is one of many which express his feelings on her death. Like all Petrarch's sonnets (and much Italian poetry), this sonnet is written in hendecasyllables, i.e., lines of 11 syllables. (Petrarchan sonnets in other languages use other metres: for example, Petrarchan sonnets in English - see, e.g., Milton's On His Deceased Wife in Three types of sonnet - tend to use iambic pentameters.) As you will see, the rhyme scheme of the sestet is c-d-c-d-c-d.

Gli occhi di ch'io parlai sì caldamente,

et le braccia et le mani e i piedi e 'l viso,

che m'avean sì­ da me stesso diviso,

et fatto singular da l'altra gente;

le crespe chiome d'òr puro lucente

'l lampeggiar de l'angelico riso,

che solean fare in terra un paradiso,

poca polvere son, che nulla sente.

Et io pur vivo, onde mi doglio e sdegno,

rimaso senza 'l lume ch'amai tanto,

in gran fortuna e 'n disarmato legno.

Or sia qui fine al mio amoroso canto:

secca è la vena de l'usato ingegno,

et la cetera mia rivolta in pianto.

(Translation:

The eyes I spoke of with such warmth,

The arms and hands and feet and face

Which took me away from myself

And marked me out from other people;

The waving hair of pure shining gold,

And the flash of her angelic smile,

Which used to make a paradise on earth,

Are a little dust, that feels nothing.

And yet I live, for which I grieve and despise myself,

Left without the light I loved so much,

In a great storm on an unprotected raft.

Here let there be an end to my loving song:

The vein of my accustomed invention has run dry,

And my lyre is turned to tears.

See further Petrarch, Sonnet, Three types of sonnet.