Textuality » 4A Interacting
The sonnet is a lyric poem coming from Europe.
Its name makes one think about the sound level of the poem that is strictly connected to the domain of music.
The sonnet was introduced into England by a group of poets at court during the reign of Henry VIII.
They translated or adapted lyrics written by Petrarch, whose Canzoniere was the model for Reinassance poets.
A relevant innovation, however, was to change the structure of the Petrarchan sonnet (two quatrains and two tercets), creating the pattern that was later adopted by Shakespeare, which is usually known as Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet (three quatrains and a couplet).
Most 16thcentury sonnets are addressed to the lady of the Petrarchan tradition: a woman who is both real and ideal, full of the highest physical and spiritual qualities.
Shakespearean sonnets do not revolve around a perfect lady in the Petrarchan fashion. His lady plays a minor role in the story compared with the fair youth; in addition to that, she is a flesh-and-blood woman, openly sensual and sometimes unfaithful.