Introduction
The development of poetry as an individual genre of literature has always reflected social problems of specific periods, which allowed poets to attract the attention of the public and express their worries and emotions. For instance, in the early Middle Ages, the emphasis on religious themes and the connection between humans and God was a poetic trend that could be traced in rhymed works of that period.
However, over time, reform movements in Europe touched poetry, and new ideas and values began to advance. Attention to the human essence, spiritual experiences, and love became the key motives of Renaissance poetry. This transition marked a shift in values and made it possible to popularize the ideas of humanism and the importance of harmony in relationships. Therefore, the rejection of religious themes and an emphasis on the human soul are the characteristic features of the love poetry of the Renaissance.
Comparison with Early Medieval Poetry
The poetry of the early Middle Ages was filled with religious themes and the call of the human to entrust one’s soul to God. The analysis of the poetic works of that time proves that poets turned to the topic of love, but the context of self-sacrifice was the key scenario (Medieval and Renaissance Literature).
Appeals to higher powers as an omnipotent mind that stood over the human was a common plot. For instance, in one of such poems, a woman appeals to mystical entities. She wants to figure out how to return her husband’s love to her: “Say me, wight in the brom, teach me how I shal don that min housëbondë me lovien woldë” (10 Short Medieval Poems). Trusting one’s life and destiny to higher powers was natural for the early Middle Ages, and poetic examples confirm this.
For the love poetry of the Renaissance, attention to the human essence was riveted, and the soul was perceived as a receptacle of all emotions and experiences. Poets began not to refer to God and other mystical entities but to promote the idea that people themselves shaped their destiny, including love.
In one of his famous sonnets, William Shakespeare, one of the prominent poets and playwrights of the Renaissance, notes as follows: “Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds” (10 Very Short Renaissance Poems). Such a comparison emphasizes the tendency to enrich the poetic vocabulary with artistic ways of coloring and means that human is the creator of one’s destiny and spiritual path.
Mental suffering, joy, and other emotions are not subordinate to God and are a reflection of personal aspirations. As Semple states, in the love poetry of the Renaissance, the breadth of feelings was often conveyed through epithets, hyperbolae, oppositions, and other techniques designed to enrich the meaning of poems. Thus, depth and the emphasis on personality are the main factors that distinguish the love poetry of the Renaissance from that of the early Middle Ages.
Transition to a New Form of Poetic Lyrics
As a result of the transformation of thinking that the Renaissance entailed, the genre of love poetry changed not only stylistically but also structurally. Mayne remarks that some prominent poets, for instance, John Donne, John Milton, the aforementioned William Shakespeare, and some others created their works in the form of a sonnet that gained popularity at this time. Even though according to Mayne, Francesco Petrarch was the founder of this form of love poetry and worked on it in the 14th century, representatives of the Renaissance popularized this style. This is another proof that the poets of this genre moved away from the canonical principles of versification and strove for more complex and detailed approaches to expressing their creativity.
The fourteen-stanza sonnet format became a common form of love poetry and allowed changing the style of massive and multi-page epics. The speech patterns of poets became more refined and metaphorical, which helped them express ideas with deeper meaning. For instance, in his Sonnet 18, Shakespeare praises his beloved and compares her to a summer day: “so long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (Snell). Thus, the transition to a new structural form made it possible to express creative ideas more accurately and, at the same time, richly from the perspective of semantic content.
Relationship Between a Man and a Woman
Even though in early medieval poetry, the theme of love was raised, during the Renaissance, the relationship between a man and a woman became more intimate and deep. Palma compares these two creative periods and notes that representatives of the Renaissance, particularly English poets, reflected more sensual forms (12). The emphasis on the human soul as a repository of versatile emotions allowed the poets of this period to reveal a new form of love expression based not only on suffering and valor but also on deep feelings.
A man and a woman began to be perceived as objects of attraction, and the intimate subtext of poems was a characteristic feature. In one of his works, Michael Drayton writes as follows: “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part” (10 Very Short Renaissance Poems). Such a lyrical context of parting gained popularity only during the Renaissance, and compared to early medieval lyrics, the poetry of this period became more human-oriented.
Individual Vision of the Genre
Studying love poetry opens up an opportunity to observe transformations not only in poets’ stylistic manner but also in the social environment. The shift from religious scripts to more intimate and spiritual forms marked the beginning of a shift in values when humanism and the importance of the human being came to the fore. Moreover, the poems of Shakespeare, Milton, and other representatives of the new school of thought gave impetus to subsequent generations of poets.
In the modern world, studying the poetic lyrics of the Renaissance is still useful due to the breadth of ideas of that time and the relevance of reflections. As a result, love lyrics that appeared in the 16th century have taken a special place in the world’s literary heritage and helped create a unique style of poetry with an emphasis on human feelings and experiences.
Conclusion
The emphasis on the human soul and manifestations of pure emotions, which replaced religious motives, are the key differences between the love poetry of the Renaissance and that of the early Middle Ages. The reformers of this genre resorted not only to stylistic but also structural changes, created new forms of versification, and used numerous means of literary expression. The relationship between a man and a woman was described more intimately, and ballads and epics were replaced by lyrical chants of love. Studying the love poetry of the Renaissance provides an opportunity to assess the shift in values and allows analyzing the relevance of the great poets’ ideas of that era.
Works Cited
“10 Short Medieval Poems Everyone Should Read.”Interesting Literature. Web.
“10 Very Short Renaissance Poems Everyone Should Read.”Interesting Literature. Web.
Mayne, Emily. “Love Poetry in Renaissance England.” British Library. Web.
“Medieval and Renaissance Literature: Home.” Miami Dade College, 2018. Web.
Palma, Flavia. “Love and Silence in the Renaissance: From the Italian Novella Tradition to its English Legacy.” Tropos, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 6-13.
Semple, Edel. “You Give Love a Bad Name: Pop Music and Renaissance Love Poetry.” RTÉ, 2020. Web.
Snell, Melissa. “Love Poems of the English Renaissance.”ThoughtCo, 2019. Web.