|
Wyatt uses typical Petrarchan conventions (the lover as a ship tossed on the seas of love; the
lover alternately freezing and burning hot, among them); his language and
syntax are more difficult, making his sonnets a little tougher to
understand. He generally translated from Italian models, and he generally
followed the rhyme scheme abba cddc effe gg. He often presented the two
sides of love--physical and spiritual--but without a union between them,
which makes his work slightly different from the Petarchan mold. On the
whole, Wyatt’ lighter verses are more successful than his sonnets.
Like Wyatt, Surrey traveled to Italy, and his imagination was
captured by Petrarch’s sonnets .
In terms of his contribution to the development of literature in
English, Surrey has less strength but more polish than Wyatt. He is more
successful in fitting the accent to the normal accent of the word in spoken
language, but he lacks the originality of Wyatt’s creative power.
Of the two, Surrey is more of a craftsman, while Wyatt, more of an
artist. Much of his verse handles the traditional Petrarchan theme of love,
with typical Petrarchan conceits. He uses a natural imagery that is livelier
and more “English” than that found in Petrarchan models; his language is
often more “modern” than Wyatt’s. Thus, his meanings are often clearer; His
rhymes are often “smoother” and easier than Wyatt’s. His favorite rhyme
scheme is 3 quatrains + a couplet: abab cdcd efef gg. He is fond of using
the conceit of antithesis, as in his sonnet “Alas, So All Things Now Do Hold
Their Peace”. Like Wyatt, Surrey also produced other types of poetry, and it
is in these other forms--especially the autobiographical works that his true
artistry is found. The following poem may reveal some of the features:
Complaint That His Lady After She Knew
His Love, Keep Her Face Always Hidden From Him
I NEVER saw my Lady lay apart
Her cornet 1 black, in cold nor yet in heat,
Sith first she knew my grief was grown so great ;
Which other fancies driveth from my heart,
That to myself I do the thought reserve,
The which unawares did wound my woful breast ;
But on her face mine eyes might never rest.
Yet since she knew I did her love and serve,
Her golden tresses clad alway with black,
Her smiling looks that hid thus evermore,
And that restrains which I desire so sore.
So doth this cornet fovern me alack !
In summer, sun, in winter's breath, a frost ;
Whereby the light of her fair looks I lost.
(Henry Howard, The Poetical Works of Henry Howard)
Surrey is perhaps best known for introducing blank verse into
English with his translation of
Virgil’s The Aeneid. Although the
poetry of Wyatt and Surrey was not published during their lifetimes, after
their deaths their work was collected in 1557 by the printer
Richard Tottel: Miscellany & Other Collections of Renaissance Verse. Tottel's
collection ushered in many other such anthologies during Elizabeth’s reign.
|
