ON THE MOTIF OF DEATH IN 16th CENTURY SONNET POETRY - by CLAES SCHAAR

Sep 30, 2026

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Examines how the motif of death functions within Renaissance sonnet poetry, challenging the idea that such poetry is a uniform, homogeneous body of literature. Contrasts typical Petrarchan love themes—hardness of the lady, the poet’s despair, pleas for affection—with less emphasized themes, especially death, showing differences in imagery technique and tracing influences from English Elizabethan sonneteers back through French to Italian sources. Discusses how sonnet cycles in imitation of Petrarch’s Canzoniere link a lady’s hardness to the “certain death” of the faithful admirer.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages48

Reading Time1 h 14 min

AccessFree to download

ON THE MOTIF OF DEATH IN 16th CENTURY SONNET POETRY

Renaissance sonnet themes and motifs

Death motif in different contexts

Tracing influences: English to French to Italian

Death and Petrarchan love-poetry

# ON THE MOTIF OF DEATH IN l6thCENTURY SONNET POETRY by CLAES SCHAAR NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATEUNIVERSITY LIBRARYMARYVILLE.MISSOURI 64468 LUND CWK GLEERUP 3TAT2 U WHC9A 8 VI19UO22M3IVY9 LUND HAKAN OHLSSONS BOKTRYCKERI 1960 09.! 290 It is a common opinion with critics and literary historians thatthe sonnet poetry of the Renaissance is a fairly homogeneous bodyof literature,characterized by uniform style and a standard stock-in-trade of themes and motifs.1 Such a view,however,is not whollyadequate.Although the sonneteers of the Renaissance period -inspired by Petrarch's Canzoniere -largely used similar stylisticdevices,there were important differences especially in imagerytechnique.To some extent,these differences mark off English fromContinental sonneteering.2 As regards content,on the other hand,the homogeneousness is more conspicuous,and love sonnets writtenin the Petrarchan tradition offer little in the way of variation.Thepoet complains of the lady's hardness and of his own sad and hope-less plight,tries in vain to move her,exhorts her to love whilethere is time and before old age comes,praises her beauty,promisesto make her immortal in his verse.So long as we keep to this sphereof themes,then,uniformity leaves little to be desired.But thereare certain other themes which have not attracted much attentionand which it might be worth while to consider somewhat moreclosely.One of these is the theme of death which,in different con-texts and with different functions,is an important ingredient inthe sonnet poetry of the Renaissance.The motif of death in litera-ture has bcen the subject of several comprehensive studies—Swedish CLAES SCHAAR readers are particularly familiar with FEHRMAN's excellent survey,Diktaren och Döden(Lund,1952).¹However,the motif is of greatinterest also to the student of limited sections of European litera-ture.I have elsewhere very briefly—in fact rather too briefly—touched on its occurrence in sonnet poetry²,and should like hereto develop some points of view in more detail.Our starting-pointwill be the English Elizabethan sonneteers,and we shall trace thevarious motifs back through the French to the Italian poets,whoseworks were the most important sources of inspiration to the Englishauthors of sonnets. * Wilt thou be still unkind,and kill me so?Whose humbled vows,with sorrowful appeal,Do still persist;and did,so long ago,Intreat for pity,with so pure a zeal?Suffice the world shall,for the world can say How much thy power hath power,and what it can;Never was victor-hand yet moved to slayThe rendered captive,or the yielding man.Then,O,why should thy woman-thought imposeDeath and disdain on him,that yields his breath;To free his soul from discontent and woes,And humble sacrifice to a certain death?O since the world knows,what the power can do:What were't for thee,to save and love me too? It is hardly surprising that the idea expressed in this sonnet (no.IXin the seventh“decade”of Henry Constable's Diana,written before1594),should be found in much love-poetry of the Romantic andpre-Romantic,if not perhaps post-Romantic,periods.However,itis a well-known fact that particularly the authors of sonnet cycleswritten in imitation of Petrarch’s Canzoniere take great pains toconvince their readers that the lady's hardness means the certaindeath of her faithful admirer,the unhappy poet.As regards English

FAQs

Why does the author question the view that Renaissance sonnets are homogeneous?

The author argues that although Renaissance sonneteers often use similar stylistic devices inspired by Petrarch, important differences—especially in imagery technique—separate English from Continental sonneteering.

What is the central focus of the paper?

The paper focuses on the theme of death in Renaissance sonnet poetry, treating it as an important ingredient with different contexts and functions.

How does the author connect the death motif to later periods?

The author notes that the idea expressed in a specific sonnet is found in much love poetry of Romantic and pre-Romantic periods, especially within sonnet cycles that imitate Petrarch’s Canzoniere and emphasize the lady’s hardness as the certain death of the admirer.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Fans