The well-made sonnet probably allows its creator, novice or sonneteer, greater self-pleasure than any other lyric form. The sonnet's complexity of form, its aesthetic possibilities, and its long, illustrious history all connect the poet (or would-be poet) of today with almost every major poet of the past 750+ years.
Some history of sorts: the sonnet originated in Italy around 1235 (you want something more exact... you might try Wikipedia....[no link here, I'm on a roll...of sorts...but let tomorrow judge]). The two earliest writers of the form were Giacomo da Lentino and Guittone di Arezzo, who is sometimes given this inestimable credit without mention of Giacomo.
After its invention, the decasyllabic line, and fourteen-line length of the poem became set (after a fashion). Certainly we can all agree that the lyric was enriched through the skill of Dante (1265-1321), and the popularization of Petrarch (1304-1374), whose name became interchangeable with "Italian" in describing these early sonnets.
The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet was brought to England through translations and adaptations in the 1530's by Sir Thomas Wyatt, and became English in form through liberal translations and creativity of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.
The sonnet did not become popular in England until Sir Phillip Sidney and William Sharespeare, writing in the late sixteenth century, published their first works. Later, John Donne (luv ya guy) and John Milton (not so much, johnny) extended the scope of the sonnet in their experiments, and their influence, most especially the influence of (the less love-able) Milton, is felt by sonnet writers to the present day.
We return tomorrow with a 2nd note . . .
