Petrarchan sonnet

A fourteen-line poem organised into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet, usually with a turn in thought between them.

A fourteen-line poem traditionally associated with love, with an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet. Its argument usually changes direction between these sections.

The poem is a fourteen-line Petrarchan sonnet, printed as one continuous stanza. Its rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA CDCDCD: an enclosed octave followed by an alternating sestet. The form provides a recognisable framework for a passionate argument about love.

The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet: fourteen lines organised into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet. Its rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA CDCDCD, with “Grace” and “Praise” forming a near-rhyme. The octave explores love’s spiritual extent, daily presence and moral character.

A fourteen-line poem named after the Italian poet Petrarch, organised into an eight-line octave and a six-line sestet, usually with a turn in thought.

Barrett Browning is using a love-poetry tradition associated with Petrarch, the fourteenth-century Italian poet after whom the Petrarchan sonnet is named. That tradition often presents a male lover contemplating an admired woman. Here, a woman speaks her own desire and tells her beloved what she wants.

Definition

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AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

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Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720