English Verse Part 39

Laid in my quiet bed, in study as I were, I saw within my troubled head a heap of thoughts appear: And every thought did show so lively in mine eyes, That now I sighed, and then I smiled, as cause of thought doth rise.

(EARL OF SURREY: _How no Age is Content with his Own Estate_, in Tottel's _Songs and Sonnets_. Arber's Reprint, p. 30. Pub. 1557.)

Her forehead jacinth like, her cheeks of opal hue, Her twinkling eyes bedeck'd with pearl, her lips as sapphire blue; Her hair like c.r.a.pal stone, her mouth O heavenly wide; Her skin like burnish'd gold, her hands like silver ore untried.

(SIR PHILIP SIDNEY: _Mopsa_, in the _Arcadia_. ab. 1580.)

IV. THE SONNET

The sonnet is an Italian verse-form, in fourteen five-stress lines, introduced into England at the time of the Italian literary influences of the sixteenth century. Almost from the first, the English sonnet has been divided into two cla.s.ses: one based on more or less strict imitation of the structure of the Italian form, and variously called the Italian, the regular, or the legitimate sonnet; the other taking the Italian sonnet as the point of departure, but constructed according to more familiar English rime-schemes, and commonly called the Shaksperian or the English sonnet.

The origin of the sonnet in southern Europe is a matter of some disagreement. Some scholars trace it to the _canzone_ strophe (_e.g._ Gaspary, in his _Geschichte der Italienischen Literatur_), others to the combination of the _ottava rima_ with a six-line stanza (Welti, in his _Geschichte des Sonettes in der deutschen Dichtung_), others to Provencal and even German influence. (See Schipper, vol. ii. pp. 835 ff., and Lentzner's _Das Sonett und seine Gestaltung in der englischen Dichtung_, p. 1.) It seems first to have been a recognized form in Italy in the latter part of the thirteenth century (see Tomlinson's _The Sonnet: its Origin, Structure, and Place in Poetry_); and was made glorious by Dante, Michael Angelo, Ta.s.so, Ariosto, and--above all--Petrarch. On the different forms of the Italian sonnet, see Tomlinson's essay, just cited.

"The object of the regular or legitimate Italian sonnet," says Mr.

Tomlinson, "is to express one, and only one, idea, mood, sentiment, or proposition, and this must be introduced ... in the first quatrain, and so far explained in the second, that this may end in a full point; while the office of the first tercet is to prepare the leading idea of the quatrains for the conclusion, which conclusion is to be perfectly carried out in the second tercet, so that it may contain the fundamental idea of the poem." (pp. 27, 28.)

The Italian form is always marked by the division into octave and sestet, although English usage has been very irregular in marking this division by a full pause. The octave is based on only two rimes (_abbaabba_); the sestet on either two or three, the most common arrangements being _cdecde, cdcdcd, cdedce_, and _cddcee_.

With regard to the pause at the point of division Lentzner says: "It should not be a full pause, because this would produce the effect of a gap or breaking-off, ...--not like the speaker who has reached the end of what he has to say, but like one who reflects on what has already been said, and then takes fresh breath to complete his theme."[35]

Most critics prefer those forms of sestet which avoid a final riming couplet. This Mr. Courthope explains as follows: "The reason for the avoidance of the couplet in the second portion of the sonnet is, I think, plain. In the first eight lines the thought ascends to a climax; this part of the sonnet may be said to contain the premises of the poetical syllogism. In the last six lines the idea descends to a conclusion, and as the two divisions are of unequal length it is necessary that the lesser should be the more individualised. Hence while, in the first part, the expression of the thought is ma.s.sed and condensed by reduplications of sound, and the general movement is limited by quatrains; in the second part the clauses are separated by the alternation of the rhymes, the movement is measured by tercets, and the whole weight of the rhetorical emphasis is thrown into the last line." (_History of English Poetry_, vol. ii. p. 91.)

The sonnet has remained, since its introduction into English poetry, a favorite form among poets and critics, but has never become genuinely popular. It is suited, of course, only for the expression of dignified and careful thinking; and the difficulty of giving it unity and confining the content to the precise limit of fourteen lines has made perfect success in the form a rare attainment. Furthermore, the complexity of the rime-scheme--the distance at which one rime responds to another--makes the appreciation of the form a matter of some delicacy, less suited to the prevailingly simple taste of the English ear than to the more complex taste of the Italian.

The following specimens are cla.s.sified only in the two princ.i.p.al groups of the Italian and the English form. The common test of the Italian form is that the rime-scheme shall separate the first eight lines from the rest, these eight lines ordinarily showing "inclusive rime" of the _abba_ type; the test of the English form is that the rime-scheme shall separate the first twelve lines from the last two, the twelve lines ordinarily showing alternate rime.

Schipper groups English sonnets in five cla.s.ses: (1) the strict Italian form, with pause between octave and sestet; (2) the Surrey-Shakspere or English form; (3) the Spenserian form; (4) the Miltonic form, with correct rime-arrangement but general neglect of the bipart.i.te structure; (5) the modern Italian or Wordsworthian form, following the regular rime-scheme in general, but often with a third or even a fourth rime in the octave, and treated as a single strophe. (_Englische Metrik_, vol.

ii. p. 878.)[36]

A.--THE REGULAR (ITALIAN) SONNET

In this group the student of the subject should note the detailed variations of the rime-scheme of the sestet, and the varying practice of the poets as to the division between octave and sestet.

In view of the connection of Petrarch's sonnets with Wyatt's introduction of the form into England, the first of them is reproduced as a typical specimen of the strict Italian form.

Voi ch' ascoltate in rime spa.r.s.e il suono Di quei sospiri ond' io nudriva 'l core In su 'l mio primo giovenile errore, Quand' era in parte altr' uom da quel ch' i' sono, Del vario stile, in ch' io piango e ragiono Fra le vane speranze e 'l van dolore, Ove sia chi per prova intenda amore Spero trovar pieta, non che perdono.

Ma ben veggi' or si come al popol tutto Favola fui gran tempo, onde sovente Di me medesmo meco mi vergogno; E del mio vaneggiar vergogna e 'l frutto, E 'l pentirsi, e 'l conoscer chiaramente Che quanto piace al mondo e breve sogno.

(PETRARCA: _Sonetto_ i.)

The longe love that in my thought I harber, And in my heart doth kepe his residence, Into my face preaseth with bold pretence, And there campeth, displaying his banner.

She that me learns to love, and to suffer, And willes that my trust, and l.u.s.tes negligence Be reined by reason, shame, and reverence, With his hardinesse takes displeasure.

Wherwith love to the hartes forest he fleeth, Leavyng his enterprise with paine and crye, And there him hideth and not appeareth.

What may I do? when my maister feareth, But in the field with him to live and dye, For good is the life, endyng faithfully.

(SIR THOMAS WYATT: _The lover hideth his desire_, etc., in Tottel's _Songs and Sonnets_, p. 33. pub. 1557.)

It was Wyatt who introduced the sonnet into England. Thirty-one of his sonnets were published in Tottel's Miscellany, of which about a third are said to be translations or paraphrases of Petrarch's. Wyatt followed, of course, the regular Italian structure, but used unhesitatingly the form of sestet with the concluding couplet (_cddcee_). On this point Mr. Courthope says: "Wyatt was evidently unaware of the secret principle underlying the extremely complex structure of the Italian sonnet; ... and being unfortunately misled by his admiration for the _Strambotti_ of Serafino, which sum up the conclusion in a couplet, he endeavored to construct his sonnets on the same principle, thereby leading all sonnet writers before Milton on a wrong path." (_History of English Poetry_, vol. ii. p. 91.)

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show, That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain,-- Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,-- I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe; Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain, Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn'd brain.

But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay; Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows, And others' feet still seem'd but strangers in my way.

Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes, Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite,-- 'Fool,' said my Muse to me, 'Look in thy heart, and write.'

(SIR PHILIP SIDNEY: _Astrophel and Stella_, i. ab. 1580.)

With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb'st the skies!

How silently, and with how wan a face!

What, may it be that e'en in heavenly place That busy archer his sharp arrows tries!

Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes Can judge of love, thou feel'st a lover's case, I read it in thy looks; thy languish'd grace, To me, that feel the like, thy state descries.

Then, e'en of fellowship, O Moon, tell me, Is constant love deem'd there but want of wit?

Are beauties there as proud as here they be?

Do they above love to be loved, and yet Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess?

Do they call virtue, there, ungratefulness?

(SIR PHILIP SIDNEY: _Astrophel and Stella_, x.x.xi. ab. 1580.)

Sidney's favorite form for the sonnet sestet was that shown in these specimens (_cdcdee_), a form that suggests the influence of the Surrey or English sonnet rather than the Italian. The first of the sonnets is of course exceptional in being written in alexandrines, but is among the finest in the sequence. See also Sidney's sonnet of the English type, p.

291, below.

The _Astrophel and Stella_ (containing 110 sonnets) is the earliest of the great sonnet-sequences or sonnet-cycles of English poetry, those of Spenser, Shakspere, Rossetti, and Mrs. Browning being later representatives. In the Elizabethan age the fashion of writing sonnets, and sonnet-sequences in particular, was at its height, especially in the last decade of the century (1590-1600). On this subject, see the Introduction to Professor Sch.e.l.ling's _Elizabethan Lyrics_, in the Athenaeum Press Series, and Mr. Sidney Lee's _Life of Shakspere_. Other noteworthy sonnet-sequences besides those of Sidney, Spenser, and Shakspere were Constable's _Diana_, Daniel's _Delia_, Lodge's _Phyllis_, Watson's _Tears of Fancy_, Barnes's _Parthenophil_, Giles Fletcher's _Lycia_, and Drayton's _Idea_,--all published in the years 1592-1594. A now forgotten poet by the name of Lok produced more than four hundred sonnets, proving himself an Elizabethan rival to Wordsworth.

I know that all beneath the moon decays, And what by mortals in this world is brought In time's great periods shall return to naught; That fairest states have fatal nights and days.

I know how all the Muse's heavenly lays, With toil of spirit which are so dearly bought, As idle sounds, of few or none are sought; And that naught lighter is than airy praise.

I know frail beauty like the purple flower, To which one morn oft birth and death affords; That love a jarring is of minds' accords, Where sense and will inva.s.sall reason's power.

Know what I list, this all can not me move, But that, O me! I both must write and love.

(WILLIAM DRUMMOND of Hawthornden: _Sense of the Fragility of All Things_, etc. 1616.)

Drummond was a sonneteer of great skill, and used many original combinations of rime-schemes,--some forty in all,--yet usually approximating to the Italian type. Leigh Hunt says: "Drummond's sonnets, for the most part, are not only of the legitimate order, but they are the earliest in the language that breathe what may be called the habit of mind observable in the best Italian writers of sonnets; that is to say, a mixture of tenderness, elegance, love of country, seclusion, and conscious sweetness of verse." (Essay on the Sonnet, in _The Book of the Sonnet_, vol. i. pp. 78, 79.)

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure: then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men do with thee go-- Rest of their bones, and souls' delivery.

Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die.

(JOHN DONNE: _Holy Sonnets_, X. 1635.)

Donne's series of "Holy Sonnets" was one of the few Elizabethan sequences, or cycles, which dealt with other than amatory subjects. The seven sonnets of the series called _La Corona_ are bound together into a "crown of sonnets,"--an Italian fashion, according to which the first line of each sonnet is the same as the last of the sonnet preceding, and the last line of the last sonnet the same as the first line of the first.

When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He returning chide,-- Doth G.o.d exact day-labor, light denied?

I fondly ask:--But patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies: G.o.d doth not need Either man's work, or His own gifts; who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best: His state Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest:-- They also serve who only stand and wait.

(MILTON: _On his Blindness_. ab. 1655.)