This week’s activities and reading helped me understand the structure of sonnets. Shakespearean sonnets, or Elizabethan sonnets, are typically 14 lines in length and follow a specific structure. They are divided into 3 quatrains and end in a couplet. Quatrain 1 would rhyme in abab, quatrain 2 in cdcd, quatrain 3 in efef and the couplet would rhyme in gg. The first 3 quatrains establish a theme or problem and then resolve it in the last 2 lines, the couplet. For example, in the first 3 quatrains of Sonnet 130, “My Mistress’s Eyes Are Nothing like the Sun” by William Shakespeare, the speaker discusses the qualities of the woman he is in love with. The speaker compares her to the things of nature. However, the woman is unlike the beautiful things of nature, she doesn’t have any heavenly attributes. In a way, the speaker describes her in an unattractive manner. In the last 2 lines of the poem, the speakers reveal that he still loves her for who she is, not because he can compare her to beautiful things. Overall, knowing the format of a poem makes it easier to understand them.
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One thought on “Jhon Lopez Discussion 11”
Good night, Jhon Lopez! Thanks for sharing your understanding about this week’s readings and informative videos.
This week was also very crucial for me, as I have found out that I quite did not know the meaning of poetry as a whole, and the attributes that compose poetry and poems. As you said, the concept of sonnets and its structure was also a great discovery, and something that despite my huge library of brazilian poems, I was completely not aware of. Thank you for exemplifying your discoveries by bringing up Shakespeare’s sonnet. Your final perspective was definitely an addition in order to help me understanding sonnets as well.
Take care!