An anthology of more than three hundred sonnets, arranged by the birth date of the poets, features the work of Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Wordsworth, the Brownings, Christina Rossetti, Frost, Millay, Walcott, Heaney, and others.

Originating in 12th-century Italy, the sonnet had its first flowering in the work of Dante and Petrarch, and was later embraced all over Europe as poets discovered that its brevity and musicality gave impact to the expression of emotion.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Treasury of over 170 English and American sonnets by more than 70 poets, from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Masterpieces by Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Blake, Swinburne, Yeats, Frost, Poe, many more.

The Sonnet provides a comprehensive study of one of the oldest and most popular forms of poetry, widely used by Shakespeare, Milton and Wordsworth, and still used today by poets such as Seamus Heaney, Tony Harrison and Carol Ann Duffy. This book traces the development of the sonnet from its origins in medieval Italy to its widespread acceptance in modern Britain, Ireland and America. It shows how the sonnet emerges from the aristocratic courtly centres of Renaissance Europe and gradually becomes the chosen form of radical political poets such as Milton. The book draws on detailed critical analysis of some of the best-known sonnets written in English to explain how the sonnet functions as a poetic form, and it argues that the flexibility and versatility of the sonnet have given it a special place in literary history and tradition.