Question

For this assignment, there are two parts.

Part 1. You will write an original poem in one of the styles covered in Units 6 and 7, covering the Renaissance. The topic of the poem should be something that matters to you, as the reason people wrote the poetry we have read was because the topics mattered to them.

The length of the poem will be determined by which form you employ. Be sure to review the styles available before writing your poem.


Poem Style Options:
Petrarchan, Spenserian, or Shakespearean Sonnet
Pastoral poetry
Metaphysical poetry
Elegies (for the assignment an epigram is too short, so no one-line pieces, thank you).

Ballads (such as “Robin Hood and Little John.”)

The information provided in the previous lessons includes the forms for these poems. If you have questions about your chosen format, you may also reach out to your teacher for help!

Part 2. You will then include after the poem, in the same document, a written explanation of which style the poem is in, and why you chose that style. Which poetic form did you attempt? Why did you choose the style you did? What are the literary stylistic elements common for this form? How did you incorporate them into your poem? What is the theme of your poem and the message you wanted to get across? How well do you feel you succeeded? What do you feel you did best on this poem? What is your favorite part or line? How did this experience go for you? What went well? What was challenging? This response should be 2-3 paragraphs in length.

Answer 1

When scholars lit the dark with reason's flame,
Old myths were loosened from their iron clasp;
And painters turned the sacred to the frame,
While ships unrolled new knowledge to our grasp.
We stitched the past with threads of Latin thought,
And woke the marble's gaze to mortal skies;
New tongues pursued the wisdom once long sought,
And courtyards hummed with workshops, books, and cries.
Yet not all light dissolved the old night's hold;
For hearts still bore the weight of hunger, fear;
And careful thought still traded faith for gold;
And hungry mouths compelled the rulers' fear.
Yet I who drink from centuries' bright flame,
Must guard small lights so future minds may claim.

Explanation:
This poem is a Shakespearean sonnet (14 lines, iambic pentameter, rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). I chose this form because the sonnet was central to Renaissance poetic expression and it suited the compact, argumentative movement I wanted: to celebrate the Renaissance’s revival of learning while acknowledging its social limits and obligations. I used the usual sonnet techniques — iambic rhythm for forward motion, an octave that surveys the scene of renewal (lines 1–8), a volta at line 9 that introduces tension and counterpoint, and a closing couplet that offers a personal resolution and charge.

Stylistically I relied on condensed imagery and classical references common to the form: light/dark as knowledge/ignorance, marble and painters for recovered antiquity and its humanization, ships for exploration and the spread of ideas. The theme is the pursuit of knowledge and the responsibility to protect and pass it on despite material injustices. I think the poem succeeds in sketching both the exhilaration of intellectual revival and the ethical complexity that accompanied it; my favorite line is the opening, “When scholars lit the dark with reason's flame,” because it sets the tone and image I tried to sustain. What went well was shaping a coherent argument into fourteen lines and placing the turn clearly; the challenge was keeping consistent meter and fresh diction while also making the historical material feel personally urgent.