Abstract
Paul Verlaine was born in 1844 and died in Paris in 1896. His work ?Une Grande Dame' is, therefore, an orthodox Petrarchan sonnet, as was typical of the poetry composed from the sixteenth century onward. In this document, I shall be studying form, imagery and vocabulary in particular, but will also shed light on other literary devices Verlaine makes use of. ?Une Grande Dame' follows the rules of the Petrarchan sonnet. It is a fourteen lined Alexandrine made up of two quatrains and two tercets. It has been constructed using the "rime royale" as the rhyme form and the "rime embrassée" as the rhyme scheme. In my opinion, the fact that Verlaine has used a "rime royale" is no coincidence, taking into consideration the title of this work, ?Une Grande Dame'. This type of rhyme only serves to emphasize that the lady spoken of is royal and imperial in every sense of the word.
