The Oxford Book of Sonnets
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Author Description
The sonnet is the best-loved and most versatile of poetic forms, alive and well after over 450 years in English. It is still an automatic choice for the expression of intense but controlled feelings on both private and public subjects. Although it is most often associated with love poems, it is also used for devotional, philosophical, and comic purposes, and this anthology demonstrates the full range of its exhilarating possibilities.Beginning with Wyatt and ending in the present day, The Oxford Book of Sonnets juxtaposes old favourites with the less familiar: Shakespeare's marriage of true minds rubs shoulders with John Davies of Hereford's ABC of love, Keats's stout Cortez with Darley's Manrique. Women poets who revived the sonnet in the late eighteenth century are restored to prominence, and there are examples of the sonnet sequence as well as more unusual experimentation with form such as Sylvester's quadruple acrostic sonnets to his patron and Leigh Hunt's iterating sonnet. Modern poets as diverse as Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy, and Simon Armitage show that there is no better way to dramatize experience than to write a sonnet.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This anthology investigates the enduring versatility and structural evolution of the sonnet form within English poetry over a span of 450 years. John R. Fuller, an established poet and academic, curates this collection to demonstrate that the sonnet remains a primary vehicle for expressing both private emotion and public discourse. By organizing the work chronologically and thematically, Fuller argues that the form's rigid constraints have historically encouraged, rather than stifled, creative experimentation.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A chronological selection of sonnets ranging from the sixteenth century to contemporary works.
- Examples of diverse sonnet applications, including devotional, philosophical, and comic themes.
- Inclusion of experimental forms such as quadruple acrostic sonnets and iterating sonnets.
- A focus on the revival of the form by late eighteenth-century women poets.
Scope Limits
- The collection is restricted to sonnets written in the English language.
- It does not provide an exhaustive history of the sonnet's origins in Italian literature.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Critics and scholars frequently cite this volume as a comprehensive reference for the development of the English sonnet. It is widely regarded as a standard text for students and enthusiasts seeking to understand the technical breadth and historical continuity of the form.
Page Count:
400
Publication Date:
2003-01-16
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192803891
ISBN-13:
9780192803894
Poetry
Literary Criticism
Classical Poetry
Anthology
English literature
