Volta | Italian, Renaissance, Sonnet | Britannica
volta, the turn in thought in a sonnet that is often indicated by such initial words as But, Yet, or And yet. The volta occurs between the octet and sestet in a Petrarchan sonnet and sometimes between the 8th and 9th or between the 12th and 13th lines of a Shakespearean sonnet, as in William Shakespeare ’s sonnet number 130:
Volta - Definition and Examples - Poem Analysis
The word “volta” is Italian for “turn”. It refers to the moment in a sonnet in which the writer makes an important change or transition . The poem turns in, usually a very clear, way.
Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet - Definition, Structure and History
The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet was created by Giacomo da Lentini in the early 1200s. But, it was used in depth by another Italian poet, Guittone d’Arezzo, who rediscovered the form and wrote close to 250 poems in that form.
Volta | The Poetry Foundation
In a sonnet, the volta is the turn of thought or argument: in Petrarchan or Italian sonnets it occurs between the octave and the sestet, and in Shakespearean or English before the final couplet.
Volta - Examples and Definition of Volta - Literary Devices
There are two major types of volta. The first is the Petrarchan volta that occurs in Petrarchan sonnets. The Italian poet Petrarch has used this type of volta in his sonnets. As a poet projects the subject of the sonnet in the first quatrain, he makes it complicated in the second and completes it at the start of the second part of the sonnet.
Petrarchan sonnet - Wikipedia
The sestet begins with a volta which marks the change in rhyme scheme as well as the change of the conflict into a solution or some form of resolution. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey are both known for their translations of Petrarch's sonnets from Italian into English.
Volta (literature) - Wikipedia
A turn in a sonnet is called a volta. A vital part of virtually all sonnets, the volta is most frequently encountered at the end of the octave (first eight lines in Petrarchan or Spenserian sonnets), or the end of the twelfth line in Shakespearean sonnets, but can occur anywhere in the sonnet.
10 of the Best Examples of Petrarchan Sonnets Everyone Should …
There is usually a ‘turn’ or shift in the poem’s argument or thought as we move between the octave and sestet: a figure known as the volta.
Volta - Poetry Is Pretentious
In a sonnet, the volta is the turn of thought or argument. Where the volta is located in the poem depends on the author, or the form. In Italian sonnets it occurs between the octave and the sestet, and in Shakespearean sonnets it occurs before the final couplet.
Volta - Academy of American Poets
In the Petrarchan sonnet, the volta occurs between the eighth and ninth lines. In the Shakespearean sonnet, the volta occurs before the final couplet. Voltas are also characteristics of other poetic forms, and can even occur in free verse poems.