textbook
The Norton
Introduction to Literature
Sonnet
A sonnet is
a poem in a specific form which originated in Italy. The term sonnet is
derived from the Italian word sonetto (from Old Provençal sonet a
little poem, from son song, from Latin sonus a sound). By
the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a
strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. Conventions associated
with the sonnet have evolved over its history. Writers of sonnets are sometimes
called "sonneteers", although the term can be used derisively.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of
May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a
date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course,
untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou
ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his
shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So
long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Plot (narrative)
Plot refers to the sequence of events inside a story which affect other
events through the principle of cause and effect. The causal events of a
plot can be thought of as a series of sentences linked
by "and so". Plots can vary from simple structures such as in
a traditional ballad to complex interwoven structures sometimes
referred to as an imbroglio. The term plot can serve as a verb and refer to a
character planning future actions in the story.
Lambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter is a commonly used
type of metrical
line in
traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term
describes the rhythm that the words establish in that line, which is measured
in small groups of syllables called "feet". The word
"iambic" refers to the type of foot that is used, known as the iamb,
which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The
word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".
Iambic pentameter is the
most common meter in English poetry; it is used in many
of the major English poetic forms, including blank verse, the heroic
couplet, and some of the traditional rhymed stanza forms. William
Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets.
Lyre
The lyre is a string
instrument known for its use in Greekclassical antiquity and
later periods. The lyre is similar in appearance to a
small harp but with distinct differences. The word comes via Latin from
the Greek; the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean
Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning
"lyrists" and written in the Linear B script. The lyres
of Ur, excavated in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), date to
2500 BC. The earliest picture of a lyre with seven strings appears in the
famous sarcophagus of Hagia Triada (a Minoan settlement
in Crete). The sarcophagus was used during the Mycenaean occupation
of Crete (1400 BC). The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were
accompanied by lyre playing.
