Renaissance Poetry
The Renaissance 14851660
 French word meaning “rebirth”
 Renewed interest in classical learning,
the writings of ancient Greece and Rome
Italian Renaissance
 14th century – 16th
century
 Boccaccio, Petrarch, da
Vinci, Michelangelo, etc.
 Vatican’s Sistine Chapel
done by Michaelangelo
 The people are perfectly
proportioned, implying
people were capable of
perfection. Very
optimistic view of
humanity.
English Renaissance
 In contrast to Italian Renaissance, English
renaissance was more restrained and pious.
 Regarded classical learning as a means for
better understanding the Bible and leading a
moral life. Who does this remind you of?
 Humanism: used classical Latin and Greek
writings to contemplate humanity and morality.
Ex. John Milton
Renaissance Poetry
 English Renaissance Poetry was
characterized by
 New poetry that strongly borrowed from old
themes or forms
 Aristocratic in tone and unconcerned with
working people. – why?
Sir Thomas Wyatt The Elder (1503-1542) &
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547)
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worked for Henry VIII as courtiers
As Henry VIII’s ambassador, Wyatt traveled abroad
Brought love sonnet to England from Italy.
Surrey first used unrhymed iambic pentameter in a
translation of parts of Virgil’s Aeneid
 Neither of them published their poems, since they were
expected to compose songs and verses to entertain
the King and not poetry
 10 years after Surrey’s death (Wyatt died first), Richard
Tottel published Songs and Sonnets - 96 of Wyatt’s
poems and 40 of Surrey’s
 Tottel changed some of the words around, however, so
it is now popularly known as Tottel’s Miscellany
Petrarch
 Francis Petrarch
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What is a petrarchan conceit?
How many lines do they have?
How many syllables? What meter?
What is an octave and a sestet? What is the
difference in terms of content?
 What is the “turn?”
Surrey’s “Love that doth reign” (p. 344)
 Translation of a Petrarch sonnet. In that
one, the situation is that the poet loves a
lady, but will not permit him to declare his
love.
 This is an “English” sonnet.
 What’s the stanza structure and rhyme
scheme?
Surrey’s “Love that doth reign” (p. 344)
1. What happens in each quatrain?
2. Where is the turn? What is the turn?
3. What is the conceit? What specific parts
of the poem show this?
Wyatt
 Whose list to hunt p. 340
 They flee from me p. 341
Whose List to Hunt
 It’s rumored that Wyatt wrote this about
his love for Anne Boleyn. Who was she?
 What does he say about his affection for
her?
 What does noli me tangere mean? What
is the historical reference?
Whose List to Hunt
 What is the rhyme scheme?
 According to the speaker, why is he
ending his hunt of the hind?
 What advice does he give to potential
hunters of this hund?
 What does he say is written about the
hind’s neck?