About Sonnets The dialogues and lyrics of #1314 are developed from sonnets by Shakespeare. So what characterises the genre? Where does it originate from? The Origin of Sonnet
The term sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonetto, meaning "little song" literally. It does not necessarily refer to a poem with 14 lines. It is believed that Giacomo da Lentini, a court poet of Roman Empire, began to write about courtly love with sonnet in the 13th century. He is recognised as the inventor of the genre, and his contemporaries who employ the same poetic form is known as the Sicilian School. It was Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarch, especially the latter, who further promoted this form of literary art during Renaissance. Italian sonnets, primarily written from the men’s perspective, express one’s adoration for women as well as unrequited love. The Introduction of Sonnets to England
Sonnet was introduced from Italy to the English world in the 16th century. The first known sonnet in English was the translation of Petrarch’s poem by politician and poet Sir Thomas Wyatt. Apart from translations, Wyatt’s friend Henry Howard formulated the attributes that distinguished English sonnets from their Italian counterparts. The two noblemen were credited as “Fathers of English sonnet”. The structure and rhyme scheme invented by Howard were observed by Shakespeare in writing his sonnets, which appeared later in history and established its status as the English literature canon. Shakespearean Sonnets
Featuring 154 poems, Shakespeare’s Sonnets were published in 1609. Devoid of individual titles, the texts were generally collected in numerical order, e.g. Sonnet 27, which we will discuss in details. Apart from the 154 poems, Shakespeare penned 6 other sonnets for his plays, including Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s Sonnets cover a diversity of themes. Other than love, they revolve around time, mortality, desires, and procreation. The titles are also arranged according to their topics.
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