Sonnet 90 - Francesco Petrarch

Upon the breeze she spread her golden hair

that in a thousand gentle knots was turned,

and the sweet light beyond all measure burned

in eyes where now that radiance is rare;

and in her face there seemed to come an air

of pity, true or false, that I discerned:

I had love's tinder in my breast unburned,

was it a wonder if it kindled there?

She moved not like a mortal, but as though

she bore an angel's form, her words had then

a sound that simple human voices lack;

a heavenly spirit, a living sun

was what I saw; now, if it is not so,

the wound's not healed because the bow grows slack.

Sonnet 90

By Francesco Petrarch (1304 - 1374)

AP English Literature & Composition 2016/2017

Presented by: Katie Certesio

Petrarch

Literary Devices

Hyperbole: They are used in this sonnet to emphasize beauty and to show his devout love for her and how he saw her as so beautiful through his own eyes that it almost seemed exaggerated to the audience.

Petrarch's father was a lawyer and expected the same from his sons. Francesco Petrarch, however, was more interested in the world of literature. He worked as a clerk until his father passed away and he returned to his beautiful world of literature. He developed his own ideas and philosophies about the modern world and is believed to have been the origin of the concept of the "Dark Ages." He also had a church career which prevented him from getting married, but he still fathered two children. He met a beautiful woman, Laura, in the church of Sainte-Claire d' Avignon and fell in love with her. It is noted that she was already married and did not return his affections.

Metaphor: They are used in this sonnet to give the center of his affections, this beautiful young woman, angelic-like qualitites to make his love for her and her beauty have a divine quality to it that seems unrealistic to the audience.

Symbol: The most important symbol from the poem would be "the bow" that is referring to Cupid's bow that is universally known as a symbol of love. It allows for a greater meaning to shine through that even as time goes on, he continues to love her.

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Speaker: In the handout I wrote that Francesco Petrarch was the speaker talking about his love that is the subject of over 300 of his own sonnets. After going through these presentations however, I can better identify the speaker instead as a reflection of Petrarch, a man in love with a woman so fully who doesn't feel the same emotions as him.

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Occasion: Petrarch wrote this sonnet to tell the audience of his emotions and feelings towards his young love. Since the time and place aren't mentioned, it can be assumed that it took place in Italy, since that was Petrarch's home country, sometime after he had seen this beautiful woman.

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Literary Structure

Audience: Petrarch wrote to anyone who was willing to hear about his emotional feelings and to anyone who wasn't sure if they should take that leap of faith towards love, telling them to go for it or you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life.

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Rhyme Scheme: ABBA ABBA CDE FGE

Purpose: Petrarch wrote this poem to express and question his emotions and to get how he feels about this woman down on paper. He wants to make it so that some other man could find his love, even if Petrarch couldn't find his.

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Subject: The poem's subject is Petrarch's unrequited love and his description of the beauty of the woman he loves

Mnemonic Device: SOAPSTone

Stanzas and Lines: The poem is 14 lines, making it a sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet is divided into four stanzas with two quatrains and two triplets.

Tone: The tone of "Sonnet 90" is gentle, tender, and nostalgic as he remembers the past and his lost love