Starter quiz
- How many lines does a sonnet typically have?
- 7
- 14 ✓
- 22
- the are no set number of lines
-
- Sonnets are poems traditionally about...
- family
- love ✓
- life
- war
-
- A shift in tone in a poem is known as a...
- 'volta' ✓
- The general feeling or attitude presented by a writer in a text is known as...
- 'tone' ✓
- If something is 'sombre' it is...
- careful and considerate
- happy and exciting
- serious and sad ✓
-
- The word 'transcendental' means...
- serious, sad and reflective
- beyond ordinary or common experience ✓
- abundant or endless
-
Exit quiz
- Match the keywords with their definitions.
- volta⇔a shift in tone in a poem ✓
- sombre⇔serious, sad and reflective ✓
- bountiful⇔abundant or endless ✓
- transcendental⇔beyond ordinary or common experience ✓
- Sonnet 43 is an example of a __________ sonnet.
- Petrarchan ✓
- Shakespearean
- traditional
-
- 'Sonnet 43' can be divided into 3 sections. What are they?
- octet ✓
- volta ✓
- stanza
- sestet ✓
-
- The line "I love thee freely" from 'Sonnet 43' might suggest...
- the speaker loves her partner constantly
- the speaker chose to love her partner ✓
- the love the speaker and her partner share is pure
-
- Complete the quote from 'Sonnet 43': "In my old ______, and with my childhood’s faith."
- 'griefs' ✓
- ‘Sonnet 43’ is one of Barrett Browning’s 44 sonnets that she wrote for her future ______.
- 'husband' ✓
Worksheet
Loading worksheet ...
Presentation
Loading presentation ...
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- ‘Sonnet 43’ is one of Barrett Browning’s 44 sonnets that she wrote for her (then) future husband - Robert Browning.
- The poem follows the conventions of a Petrarchan sonnet.
- The poem explores the transcendental and bountiful love the poet and her future husband share.
- Barrett Browning eloped with Robert Browning, and was disinherited by her father.
- Barrett Browning struggled with chronic illness, which may explain why the poem has spiritual/religious undertones.
Common misconception
Students might think that this sonnet was written whilst Barrett Browning was married.
This poem was written before the pair were married. Barrett Browning knew of her father's disapproval, but loved Robert Browning very much.
Keywords
Petrarchan sonnet - a kind of sonnet, used to express feelings of love, which has a unique rhyme scheme
Volta - a shift in tone in a poem, found in a sonnet between the octet and the sestet
Sombre - serious, sad and reflective
Bountiful - abundant - endless
Transcendental - beyond ordinary or common experience - spiritual or supernatural in some way
+