THE SONNET FORM

The sonnet is a lyrical form of poetry therefore it speaks about private, intimate problems, feelings, doubts. In Europe it was first used by Francesco Petrarca in Italy . Petrarca’s sonnet became the model for all future sonneteers.As the word shows the sonnet heavily relies on sound devices. Therefore in the analysis of a sonnet it is really important to consider the level of sound that together with the other levels of connotation largely contributes to meaning.

The sonnet form is organized/arranged into 14 lines.

The English sonnet is the result of the gradual transformation from the Petrarchan model to the English sonnet which is generally called either the Shakespearen sonnet or the Elizabethan sonnet because it developed during the Elizabethan age.

A poet witing a sonnet is compelled to write 14 lines and later she or he can choose between the Petrarchan and the Elizabethan sonnet

The privileged theme of the sonnet is love, not religious but secular love

                                GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENGLISH SONNET

Thomas Wyatt, who lived in the first half of the 16th century, followed the Petrarchan model mainly translating Italian Petrarchan’s sonnet into English but soon English poets realised that the English language was not suitable to the Italian model. Indeed, while the Italian language rhtyhm is based on syllables the English rhtyhm is based on stresses. This made the translation from Italian to English very difficult and it proved not appropriate/suitable to the English language. Therefore Mr. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey decided to transform and modify the structure of the sonnet. This is the way the Elizabethan structure of the sonnet was born. He transformed the Petrarchan model into a structure arranged/organized into 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

Most of the times sonneteers belonged to the court and they adopted the corteous love code. The one of the corteous code was an idealized woman