Monday, June 6, 2011

How does the Volta change the direction or mood of the poem?

hello I need help with this how does the Volta change the mood or direction in the poem? I don't see the difference.The volta in Italian sonnets, is a jump or shift in the direction, thought, or emotion of a poem. I figured out where it was, and the sequence.



Francisco Petrarch - Sonnet CCXX



Whence did Love get the gold, and from what ore, (A)

To make two yellow braids? And in what bower (B)

Of thorns did he pluck roses, in what shore (A)

The fresh and fragile hoar, and give it power? (B)

Whence come the pearls in which he breaks and ties (C)

Sweet honest words, incomparably fine?(D)

Whence all the beauties that are so divine(D)

Of that forehead serener than the skies?(C)

Volta

From what angels derives and from what sphere,(E)

The holy singing by which I am slain,(F)

So that little is left to give me pain?(F)

From what sun came the lofty light and clear (E)

That declares peace and war to my desire, (G)

And scalds my heart with ice as well as fire.(G)

How does the Volta change the direction or mood of the poem?
So in Petarchan sonnets the first 8 lines are typically the conflict while the last 6 are supposed to be the resolution. Think about the content of the two sections: The first is incredibly earth-bound and temporal. It's focusing on a person, the love-object, and essentially asking how Love made her and extolling her virtues (hair, forehead, sweet words, etc.)



The content of the last six lines is much more ephemeral and less earthly. He shifts his focus drastically, and although he is still talking about love it seems that he is less interested in his specific love-object and drawing the scope back. Angels, sphere, holy singing, lofty light, etc.

No comments:

Post a Comment