A very short history of poetic form

In this video, Professor Hugh Haughton gives a very short history of poetic form, focusing on the sonnet form.

Below, we’ve enclosed links to some of the sonnets Professor Hugh Haughton mentions in his video, so that you can explore them, too.

You can find a selection of Petrarch’s poems on the poetry in translation website, here. Poetry in Translation website – Petrarch

Read one of Dante Alighieri’s sonnets, translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The sonnet is titled: ‘Sonnet: “Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me’. Poetry Foundation website – ‘Sonnet: “Upon a day, came Sorrow in to me” – Dante Alighieri trans. Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Read ‘Whoso list to hunt’ by Sir Thomas Wyatt on the Poetry Foundation Website. Poetry Foundation website – ‘Whoso list to hunt’ Sir Thomas Wyatt.

Read Wordsworth’s sonnet on why poets should like sonnets: ‘Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room’ on the Poetry Foundation Website. Poetry Foundation website – Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room – William Wordsworth.

Hear poet Denise Riley read two sonnets by Charlotte Smith, ‘Sonnet Written at the Close of Spring’, and ‘Sonnet: On Being Cautioned Against Walking on a Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It Was Frequented by a Lunatic’. The recordings of these reading can be found on the poetry archive website Poetry Archive – Denise Riley reads Charlotte Smith.

Over to you…

From Italy to Tudor England to St Lucia, the sonnet is well-travelled. What do you think about the sonnet’s migration over history?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.