Sonnet sequence
Encyclopedia
A sonnet sequence is a group of sonnet
s thematically unified to create a long work, although generally, unlike the stanza, each sonnet so connected can also be read as a meaningful separate unit.
The sonnet sequence was a very popular genre during the Renaissance
, following the pattern of Petrarch
. This article is about sonnet sequences as integrated wholes. For the form of individual sonnets, see Sonnet
.
Sonnet sequences are typically closely based on Petrarch
, either closely emulating his example or working against it. The subject is usually the speaker's unhappy love for a distant beloved, following the courtly love
tradition of the troubadours, from whom the genre ultimately derived. An exception is Edmund Spenser
's Amoretti, where the wooing is successful, and the sequence ends with an Epithalamion, a marriage song.
Although many sonnet sequences at least pretend to be autobiographical, the genre became a very stylised one, and most sonnet sequences are better approached as attempts to create an erotic persona
in which wit
and originality
plays with the artificiality of the genre. Thus one could regard the emotions evoked to be as artificial as the conventions with which they are presented.
Other sonnet sequences include:
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s thematically unified to create a long work, although generally, unlike the stanza, each sonnet so connected can also be read as a meaningful separate unit.
The sonnet sequence was a very popular genre during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, following the pattern of Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
. This article is about sonnet sequences as integrated wholes. For the form of individual sonnets, see Sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
.
Sonnet sequences are typically closely based on Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
, either closely emulating his example or working against it. The subject is usually the speaker's unhappy love for a distant beloved, following the courtly love
Courtly love
Courtly love was a medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Generally, courtly love was secret and between members of the nobility. It was also generally not practiced between husband and wife....
tradition of the troubadours, from whom the genre ultimately derived. An exception is Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
's Amoretti, where the wooing is successful, and the sequence ends with an Epithalamion, a marriage song.
Although many sonnet sequences at least pretend to be autobiographical, the genre became a very stylised one, and most sonnet sequences are better approached as attempts to create an erotic persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
in which wit
Wit
Wit is a form of intellectual humour, and a wit is someone skilled in making witty remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.-Forms of wit:...
and originality
Originality
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works by as being new or novel, and thus can be distinguished from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or derivative works....
plays with the artificiality of the genre. Thus one could regard the emotions evoked to be as artificial as the conventions with which they are presented.
List of Italian sonnet sequences
- Dante AlighieriDante AlighieriDurante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's La Vita NuovaLa Vita NuovaLa Vita Nuova is a medieval text written by Dante Alighieri in 1295. It is an expression of the medieval genre of courtly love in a prosimetrum style, a combination of both prose and verse...
(ca. 1293, 25 sonnets to Beatrice, with commentaries and other songs) - PetrarchPetrarchFrancesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...
's Canzoniere (mid 14th-century, 227 sonnets to Laura, as well as 89 sonnets to Laura in death)
List of English sonnet sequences
During the late 16th century and early 17th century a large number of sonnet sequences were written in England. The most notable are:- Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and StellaAstrophel and StellaLikely composed in the 1580s, Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella is an English sonnet sequence containing 108 sonnets and 11 songs. The name derives from the two Greek words, 'aster' and 'phil' , and the Latin word 'stella' meaning star. Thus Astrophel is the star lover, and Stella is his star...
(pubd. 1591, 108 sonnets and 11 songs to Penelope Rich. The first true sonnet sequence in English, written between 1580 and 1584) - Edmund SpenserEdmund SpenserEdmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
's Amoretti (pubd. 1594, 88 sonnets and an Epithalamion to Elizabeth Boyle) - Samuel DanielSamuel DanielSamuel Daniel was an English poet and historian.-Early life:Daniel was born near Taunton in Somerset, the son of a music-master. He was the brother of lutenist and composer John Danyel. Their sister Rosa was Edmund Spenser's model for Rosalind in his The Shepherd's Calendar; she eventually married...
's Delia (1592, 50 sonnets) - Michael DraytonMichael DraytonMichael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
's Idea's Mirror (pubd. 1594, 64 sonnets to Phoebe), later reworkded as Idea (1619, 73 sonnets) - Fulke Greville's Caelica (1633, 109 sonnets)
- Shakespeare's sonnetsShakespeare's sonnetsShakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. Sonnets 138 and 144...
(pubd. 1609, 154 sonnets to a variety of unnamed people, both male and female) - Lady Mary WrothLady Mary WrothLady Mary Wroth was an English poet of the Renaissance. A member of a distinguished literary English family, Wroth was among the first female British writers to have achieved an enduring reputation...
's Pamphilia to AmphilanthusPamphilia to AmphilanthusPamphilia to Amphilanthus is a sonnet sequence by English Renaissance poet Lady Mary Wroth, first published as part of The Countesse of Montgomeries Urania in 1621, but subsequently published separately. It is the first known sonnet sequence by a woman writer in England...
(1621, 48 sonnets, included in Urania. The only notable sonnet sequence during the English Renaissance to be written by a woman)
Other sonnet sequences include:
- Anne Lok's (or Lock or Locke) Meditation of a Penitent Sinner (1560, 26 sonnets of a devotional nature based on Psalm 51, the first known sonnet sequence in English)
- Thomas WatsonThomas Watson (poet)Thomas Watson , English lyrical poet, was the son of William Watson and Anne Lee . He was educated at Winchester College and OxfordUniversity. He then spent 7 years in France and Italy before studying law in London...
's ΕΚΑΤΟΜΠΑΟΙΑ or Passionate Centurie of Love (1582, 100 semi-sonnets, most of which are of eighteen lines each, but still emulate the general idea of Petrarch, whom Watson had translated into Latin) - Thomas LodgeThomas LodgeThomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...
(1593, 40 sonnets to Phillis) - Henry ConstableHenry ConstableHenry Constable was an English poet, son of Sir Robert Constable. He went to St John's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1580. Becoming a Roman Catholic, he went to Paris, and acted as anagent for the Catholic powers. He died at Liège...
's Diana (1592) - William Percy's Sonnets to the fairest Coelia (1593)
- The Tears of Fancie (1593, 60 sonnets formerly attributed to Thomas WatsonThomas Watson (poet)Thomas Watson , English lyrical poet, was the son of William Watson and Anne Lee . He was educated at Winchester College and OxfordUniversity. He then spent 7 years in France and Italy before studying law in London...
- Barnabe BarnesBarnabe BarnesBarnabe Barnes , was an English poet. He is known for his Petrarchan love sonnets and for his combative personality, involving feuds with other writers and culminating in an alleged attempted murder.-Early life:...
's Partenophil and Parthenophe (1593, 104 sonnets) - Giles FletcherGiles FletcherGiles Fletcher was an English poet chiefly known for his long allegorical poem Christ's Victory and Triumph ....
's LiciaLiciaLicia is an Italian feminine given name, and may refer to:* Licia Albanese , Italian soprano* Licia Colò , Italian journalist* Licia Maglietta , Italian actress* Licia Troisi , Italian fantasy writer-See also:...
(1593, 52 sonnets) - Zepheria, a collection of 40 sonnets by an unknown poet (1594)
- Richard BarnfieldRichard BarnfieldRichard Barnfield , English poet, was born at Norbury, Staffordshire, and brought up in Newport, Shropshire.He was baptized on 13 June 1574, the son of Richard Barnfield, gentleman. His obscure though close relationship with Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars...
appended 20 sonnets to his Cynthia (1595). - Emaricdulfe by E. C. Esq. (1595, 40 sonnets)
- Bartholomew GriffinBartholomew GriffinBartholomew Griffin was an English poet. He is known for his Fidessa sequence of sonnets, published in 1596.-Works:Griffin wrote a series of 62 sonnets entitled Fidessa, more chaste than kinde, London, 1596...
's Fidessa, more chaste than kind (1596, 62 sonnets) - Richard Linche's Diella (1596, 39 sonnets)
- William SmithWilliam Smith (poet)William Smith was an English sonneteer, poet, and friend of Edmund Spenser. He participated in The Phoenix Nest , England's Helicon and published a sonnet sequence Chloris or The Complaint of the passionate despised Shepheard in 1596.-External links:*...
's Chloris (196, 51 sonnets) - Robert TofteRobert TofteRobert Tofte was an English translator and poet. He is best known for his translations of Ariosto's Satires and his sonnet sequences: Alba, The Months Minde of a Melancholy Lover , and Laura, The Toyes of a Traveller: Or, The Feast of Fancie...
's Laura (1597, 40 sonnets) - William Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond , called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet.-Life:Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian. His father, John Drummond, was the first laird of Hawthornden; and his mother was Susannah Fowler, sister of William Fowler, poet and courtier...
's Aurora (1604, 106 sonnets)
Notable later sequences
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the sonnet sequence returned to favour, although with a greater variety of subject matter.- Elizabeth Barrett BrowningElizabeth Barrett BrowningElizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
's Sonnets from the PortugueseSonnets from the PortugueseSonnets from the Portuguese, written ca. 1845–1846 and first published in 1850, is a collection of forty-four love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The poems largely chronicle the period leading up to her 1846 marriage to Robert Browning...
(pubd. 1850, 44 sonnets to Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
) - Dante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
's The House of Life (1870, 1881, 101 sonnets) - George MeredithGeorge MeredithGeorge Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
's Modern Love (1862, 50 sixteen-line sonnets) - H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's Fungi from YuggothFungi from YuggothFungi from Yuggoth is a sequence of 36 sonnets by cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Most of the sonnets were written between 27 December 1929 – 4 January 1930; thereafter individual sonnets appeared in Weird Tales and other genre magazines...
(1930) - John BerrymanJohn BerrymanJohn Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...
's Sonnets to Chris (1947, published 1967) - Robert LowellRobert LowellRobert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
's Notebook (1969), revised and expanded into the three volumes History (1973), For Lizzie and Harriet (1973) and The Dolphin (1973). - William WentheWilliam WentheWilliam Wenthe is an American poet and professor. His most recent poetry collection is Not Till We Are Lost...
's The MysteriesThe MysteriesThe Mysteries is a version of the medieval English mystery plays presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement....
(pubd. 2004, 11 sonnets)