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The History of the Form Part One: Petrarchan Sonnets. Francesco Petrarcha 1304-1374. Born in Tuscany, Italy wrote in Italian (i.e. the vernacular) This made his writing accessible to all Most famous work: Canzoniere , a sequence of 366 poems, 317 of which are sonnets
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Francesco Petrarcha 1304-1374 • Born in Tuscany, Italy wrote in Italian (i.e. the vernacular) • This made his writing accessible to all • Most famous work: Canzoniere, a sequence of 366 poems, 317 of which are sonnets • FYI: A group of sonnets is called a “cycle”
Petrarch’s sonnets were all addressed to an idealized lover named Laura • Petrarch never married
The Petrarchan (or Italian)Sonnet Form • Fourteen line poem (like all sonnets) • First eight lines (octave) present an emotional or intellectual question or problem • Last six lines (sestet) resolve the problem presented • Rhyme scheme: abbaabba cdecde (variations due to translation)
His Legacy Petrarch made the sonnet a self-sufficient form open to all people.