Petrarch's and Shakespeare's Sonnets - Comparing Sonnet Sequences

Comparing Sonnet Sequences

The term sonnet sequence might be rephrased as series or cycle of sonnets. Sonnets become more significant when they are read in the order that the poet places them, as opposed to reading them at random. Thus, the most unusual aspect of such a sequence is the sense of a “unity within a larger unity."

Sonnet sequences do not follow a spelled-out narrative progression, nor are they simply compilations of random poems with similar themes, “they are something in between." The structure lies in the beginnings and endings of the sequences, and in their overall thematic advancements. The beginnings of the sequences usually contain sonnets that “introduce characters, plot, and themes”. The commencing sonnets suggest an account of the birth of a love “experience” and hopefully foresee a happy ending. However, there is often also a sense of knowing the actual outcome of the sequence. In turn, the idea that the poet is in the middle of the experience, and knows its ending at the same time gives the sequence a “structural and narrative control”. The ultimate goal of the poet in both English and Italian sequences is to win the beloved, which he can only do if he “declares and analyzes his passion, celebrates and courts the beloved, and writes poetry to please her/him”.

Many English sonnet sequences start with addresses to the reader, and “many of specifically raise questions about the relationship between being in love and writing and reading love sonnets”. The beloved is a major interest of sonnet sequences, but the poetry itself is also an important focus. While the soulful poetry is intended to woo the beloved, it is also written for an audience to whom a clear succession should be important. A common indication of progression is “the movement from indirect description of the beloved to direct address to her”. However, there is an “antithetical tendency” to discontinue this personal address into a more impersonal language at moments of “conflict and stress”. An even further progression is formulated with the “inclusion of explicit autobiographical detail,” which “increases intensity and immediacy”. In other words, as the sequence intensifies, so do the relationships between poet and beloved, reader and beloved, and therefore poet and reader.

It is thought that the English inherited the Italian structure of the sonnet sequence from Dante and Petrarch, and then tailored it to fit their own intentions Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, in which, “while declaring his love for his mistress, he mocks the Petrarchan standard vocabulary of praise”, is an example that marks English independence from the conventions of Petrarch. The English sonnet sequences “exemplify the Renaissance doctrine of creative imitation as defined by Petrarch”.

Petrarch wrote and revised his famous sequence Canzoniere, or Song Book, between the years of 1327 and 1374. It comprises 366 poems divided into two parts: 1-263 and 264-366. Petrarch gradually constructed this work, which is derived from the countless drafts and revisions that he made throughout its creation. It is famously known for “shed light on the generation of English sequence”. Petrarch’s concern for rearrangements in and alterations to his sonnet sequence suggests that he treated his poems like works of art, in which there is always room for improvement. This idea can also be applied to Shakespeare’s ideals, considering his sonnets 138 and 144 first appeared in 1599 in The Passionate Pilgrim, and then appeared “much revised and strengthened” in the 1609 publication of The Sonnets.

There is a triple focus to all sonnet sequences that was originally put forth by the Italian model: “the poet-lover’s passion, the beloved who must be celebrated and won, and the poetry, which unites lover and beloved”. They are generally all linked by the metaphor of procreation. Petrarch’s Sonnet 9 of Canzoniere familiarizes this metaphor and foreshadows its re-emergence in Shakespeare’s Sonnets 1-17 of The Sonnets. The principal structuring tool in both the English and Italian sequences is the defined division into two parts. The first part makes a concrete relationship between poet and beloved (the solid Petrarchan relationship), while the second part is shorter and brings about some sort of change in the relationship and the two members of it. In Canzoniere, this change comes in the form of Laura’s death, and in The Sonnets, it occurs with Shakespeare’s shift of focus from “idealizing love to sexual use”.

For these two sonneteers, ending the sequence proves to be difficult in that the goal of winning the beloved is not achieved. Though normally coveted, the “open-ended structure and sequential movement of the sequence offer no logical stopping place”. Also, the fact that the second part of the sequence must act like the couplet of an individual sonnet not only creates an imbalance in the sequence, but it also puts pressure on the poet to make sure the ending has “special force”. The three main strategies that English sonneteers end up choosing from are: stopping abruptly in medias res; achieving detachment by moving into a different mode, genre, or voice; or providing a narrative resolution. Petrarch opted for the second strategy by moving into a religious mode. Shakespeare also chose the second strategy by moving into a renaissance mode, focusing on projecting his fears and desires onto Cupid. A series of complaints can also be found in the concluding sonnets of Shakespeare’s sequence, which “justify the beloved’s chastity and break the identification with the poet-lover”. In both Petrarch’s and Shakespeare’s sequences, the indicated release- whether by death or by time- “releases the lover and the sequence abruptly shifts gears”.