Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695) - Mexican Poet
· Had an extraordinary love of learning, begged her mother to dress her as a boy and send her to school
· She taught herself by reading books from her grandfather’s library
· At age16, she was presented at court and then served as a lady-in –waiting. Afterwards, she was sent to a convent.
· She converted her cell into a study filled with books and art. She converted the convent locutory (room for conversation) into a literary and intellectual salon.
· She wrote love poems, verses for songs and dance tunes, profane comedies, sacred poems, and an autobiographical defense of the right of women to study and cultivate their minds.
· She became very famous, and then suddenly gave up everything-all her books and collections. She died after ministering to sick sisters in the convent.
Used the sonnet form to write her poems.
Sonnet is a fourteen line lyric poem that is built around a strict structure. (iambic pentameter)
A Pertrachan Sonnet was popularized by an Italian poet Petrarch in the 14th century.
A Petrarchan Sonnet is divided into 2 parts, an 8 line octave with the rhyme scheme abba, abba, and a 6 line sestet with the rhyme scheme cde, cde, or cdc, dcd.