Sonnet Analysis: Petrarchan, Shakespearean, and Miltonic Forms

This assignment analyzes a sonnet, exploring its structure, poetic devices, and meaning. The paper begins by defining connotation and denotation, contrasting the differences between Petrarchan, Spenserian, Shakespearean, and Miltonic sonnets. The core of the analysis focuses on a jazz-inspired Miltonic sonnet, identifying its volta, words denoting movement, and the interplay of end-stopped and enjambed lines. The analysis covers classification of the sonnet, location of the volta, and how movement is conveyed within the poem. Further, the assignment includes an etymological study of the word "groove" and a lineation analysis. The paper emphasizes the use of poetic tools to demonstrate meaning and the importance of understanding line breaks in poetry. Finally, the student provides a bibliography of relevant sources.

Running head: SONNET
Sonnet
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Section 1.....................................................................................................................................2
Part A.....................................................................................................................................2
Difference between connotation and denotation with examples 40 words........................2
What is Curtal Sonnet........................................................................................................2
Characterizing the difference between Petrarchan, Spenserian, Shakespearean and
Miltonic Sonnets................................................................................................................2
Part B Sonnet Analysis...........................................................................................................3
Classification of the sonnet................................................................................................3
Location of the Volta, the specific turn and the line number.............................................3
All the words in the sonnet that denotes movement..........................................................3
How does the combination end-stopped lines and enjambed lines help contribute to the
argument of the sonnet.......................................................................................................4
Part C Etymology...................................................................................................................4
Word from dictionary: Groove...........................................................................................4
Other definitions of the word.............................................................................................4
Section 2.....................................................................................................................................5
Part A Lineation of one of the poems....................................................................................5
Part B Analysis.......................................................................................................................5
Bibliography:..............................................................................................................................7

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Section 1
Part A
Difference between connotation and denotation with examples 40 words
Connotation is the use of intense poetic tools to demonstrate the meaning to the reader. This
can involve uses of personification for love giving it natural qualities of feeling but not
human qualities. Example includes Sonnet 116 (Shakespeare).
Denotation is the core or the literal understanding of a word which is contradictor to the
emotions, ideas or the original meaning of the word. Example: the usage of words like Mom
and Dad instead of literal mother and father to exhibit love and connection; Mending wall
( Robert Frost)
What is Curtal Sonnet
Curtal Sonnet is a form of ten and a half line Sonnet that was created by Gerard Manley
Hopkins in three of his poems.
Characterizing the difference between Petrarchan, Spenserian, Shakespearean and
Miltonic Sonnets
Definition Petrarchan Spenserian Shakespearean Miltonic
On the basis of
Sonnet
Developed by
Petrarch, it a
sonnet which
has an octave in
a rhythmic
scheme and one
of the many
A sonnet that
has three
quatrains where
the latter rhyme
is taken over
from first
quatrain to the
Poems written
by William
Shakespeare,
most often being
a part of the set
of 154 sonnets
he wrote. It has
A poem which
has 14 lines,
without any
stanzas and has
use of
quatorzian and
enjambment to

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rhymes has
sestet within it.
next and a
couplet that
concludes
thereafter.
14 lines where
first 12 is
divided in 3
quatrains
solidify the
sonnet.
Part B Sonnet Analysis
Classification of the sonnet
The jazz inspired sonnet that is given is a Miltonic Sonnet without having any stanzas. Its
lines are characterized by metering and the use of iambic pentameter.
Location of the Volta, the specific turn and the line number
The volta in the sonnet is represented by the 5th line, “ I’ll shape this ancient form to my
design”, where there is a rhetorical shift and a transformation in the dramatization of the
chain if thought from the queries portrayed by the poet to a series of answer explained by the
poet.
All the words in the sonnet that denotes movement
The use of movement in a Miltonic Sonnet plays a role of changing the mood of the sonnet,
describing one action leading to a reaction. Such a movement is necessary in such kinds of
sonnets because they are undivided into stanzas. The following words denote movement in
the given sonnet:
 Shape
 Move
 Falsetto
 Strut

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 Beat’s
 Spin
 Hands up
 Mend
How does the combination end-stopped lines and enjambed lines help contribute to the
argument of the sonnet
Enjambed lines do not involve the use of punctuation marks at the end. In the sonnet, the
purpose of the poet is to exhibit the continuation if a thought on the lines of a sonnet and
there is an expectation from the reader to maintain the run on the thought holding on to the
specific idea so that in the coming line, the contradiction can be adequately understood. This
gives the poet a faster pace from the questions in the fourteen lines to his quest into designing
them. The use of the combined end stopped lines compels the readers of the sonnet t
continuous think about the grooviness of a sonnet, expressed by the poet, while the quest into
the coming ideas are delved into
Part C Etymology
Word from dictionary: Groove
 Origin of the word: Dutch, groeve (furrow,pit)
 Definition of the word: (noun) “a long indentation or a narrow cut on a surface
in order to receive anther board, a furrow”
 Year of origin: 1350 to 1400
Other definitions of the word
 Channel of a phnograph
 Immense pleasure
 Enjoy oneself

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 Well driven interaction
Section 2
Part A Lineation of one of the poems
“How funky can I be in fourteen lines;
how thick a groove can I lay down right here?
How bad can my ass be in these confines–
ten syllables each time seems so severe.
I’ll shape this ancient form to my design,
make these iambs make you dance, move your rear.
I’ll make this sonnet sweat, act unrefined,
just like your drunken aunt who loves to cheer
her favourite Smokey song. This poem’s fine
as his falsetto. Man, I’m without fear
as I strut down this page, rhythm entwined
with confidence. The beat’s what I revere.
So watch now how I spin it at the end:
hands up, strut on, your psyche on the mend.”
Part B Analysis

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In the art of petry it is important to know why and where there needs to be an end or break of
a line to get the complete understanding of the entire poem of which the lines belong. In the
chosen poem (a), the three lineations that has been made is keeping in mind the ease of
understanding of both the poet as well as the reader. This makes the lines of the poem distinct
from a prose in order to show the relationship of one line with the other. In the given poem,
the beauty of sunshine when it falls on the surface if the water is broken into a distinct picture
of what sunshine feels like and thereby the essence of its little spots as it hits the tranquility of
water. This gives a chance to the reader to hold on the the thought of the warmth of the
sunshine as an imagination is created of its effect on water. This relationship of sunshine and
water creates a rhythm and sound on the responses of the reader’s emotional experience as
the poem is being read.
The rhythms and the juxtaposed usage kif words that are referenced with movement creates a
synesthetic context to the words which vivifies the experience and helps the reader to connect
and visualize to the imagery of the sonnet. It can be assumed that through the perspective of
the readers, the sonnet provides an insight on how the movements can be explained as a
concept and as various other ideas that interplay rhythmically within the lines to create a
colloquial amalgamation. Furthermore, it can be assumed that through the lines that have
been poised in the poem, a simulation of reality can be achieved from the poetic metaphors.
To break the second line, in any other place other than ‘dance’ would undermine the rhythm
and the core ingredient of the reflection of sunlight and destroy the gravity of the word dance.
It is important to note that the usage of the word dance repeated again and followed by a
comma demands a pause from the reader to stand back and draw a picture of how thee
spectrum of sunlight creates a wobbly movement as its reflection falls on water.

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Bibliography:
Abu-Deeb, K. (2016). The Quest for the Sonnet: The Origins of the Sonnet in Arabic
Poetry. Critical Survey, 28(3), 133-157.
Delmonte, R. (2015). Visualizing poetry with SPARSAR–Visual maps from poetic content.
In Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on Computational Linguistics for
Literature (pp. 68-78).
Gruyter, D. (2016). Linguistic structures in poetry (Vol. 23). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co
KG.
OBE, S. W. (2018). The meaning of everything: The story of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Oxford University Press.
Oliveira, H. G., & Cardoso, A. (2015). Poetry generation with PoeTryMe. In Computational
Creativity Research: Towards Creative Machines (pp. 243-266). Atlantis Press, Paris.