The newspaper., 1906-12-14
History Of the Sonnet.
BY MISS DAISY DIXON.


son derived from the Latin word
sonus-sound.
The sonnet as perfected by the
Italians consists of a stanza OF four
teen lines, arranged according to n
well defined plan of rhyme. The
stanza is made up of two distinct
parts. The first or longer part,
called the octave, consists OF two
four line strophes. The second part
consists OF two three line strophes.
The rhymes Were commonly ar
ranged as follows: abba, abba, cde,
cde. However this arrangement may
vary greatly. The sonnet was orig
inally lyric sung with musical
have originated in Sicily, from
whence 1t spread to the mainland of
Italy sometime during the twelfth
century. The art OF sonnet writing
was widely practiced among the
Italians during the thirteenth century
and reached it's greatest perfection
under Petrarch, tl304-1G. Petrarch
based his hopes OF fame on some OF
his Latin works, but he is remem-
bered chiefly for is"Canzoniere"co COM
prising sonnets and odes to Laura,
the mistress OF his affections, whom he
met at Avignon, France, during the
removal OF the papal government
from Rome to France. have been
~. t,sa1s LON .Af
Petrarch's sonnets and the trans
lator has unfortunately, not kept
the original metre and verse struc-
ture. ] will quote but one stanza.
There never have been such glorious
eyes,
Either In our age or In eldest years;
And they consume me the sun does snow;
wherefore Love lends my tear like streams
ashore
Under the foot nf that obdurate laurel
which boughs Of adamnnt hath and golden
hair"
That many sided Italian. Michael
Angelo, has also left us some sonnets
which conform strictly to the series
of rhymes adopted by the Italians.
The two following, translated from
the Italian by Symonds, serve TO
show the abba, abba, cde, cde method
OF rhy me,
rnr aAni.ANp ANp rur UmpLr.
what ioy hath yon glad wreath Of flowers
that II
Around her golden hair =" dciuY t"tn"i
rach bios.om pressing forward from behind
A. though 20 be the first her hrow- to Kiss
The lIvelong day her dress hath perfect bli--
That now reveals her breast, now seems L"
bind;
And that fair woven net Of gold refined
Rests on her check and throat In happiness.
Yet -tu more hlis-ful seems to me the band
cut nt the tIps. so -wcctly doth 1t ring
And clasps the bosom that itdc-errc- t"lncc;
YEN and the belt to such understand
uound round her waist -nith-"Hcrc ia
ever cling"
what would my arm d % in that glrdle's place?
rur rnANsr1GuRA1IoN or nrAurY.
"a Dialogue with Loyc.1
Nay, prithcc tell me. Love, when behold
Nv Lady do mine eyes her beauty see
In truth. or dwclls that loveline=s In me
which multlples her grace n thousandtnld7
Thou needs must know-for thou with her
of old
CONTEST to stir my souls tranquility
Yet would not seek one sigh less or Ice
By loss OF that loved flame more simply cold
The beauty thou dscernc-t iHrnl here;
But grows In radiance nr It -oars on high
Through mortal eyes unto the soul above;
'ris there trnnsGgurcd-fur't the soul conterr,
on what she holds. her own divinity;
And this trnnsngurcd beauty wins thy love
From Italy this sonnet spread
over northern and western Europe
and was introduced into Spain by
Juan Boscan. 1t seems to have been
first practiced in France by Mellin
de Saint Gelais, and reached its
greatest height under Du Bellay and
Ronsard. Ronsard Is said to have
written more than nine hundred SON
nets. He was brought up as apagein
the court OF the Duke of Orleans, and
spent several years in the service OF
James V, OF Scotland. After his return
to France he became afflicted with
deafness and withdrew from diplo-
matte life devoting himself entirely
to the study OF literature. He be-
came the head of n group OF poets