SONNET (also known as the Shakespearean or Elizabe-
than sonnet) or the SPENSERIAN SONNET. The term Ital-
ian, or Petrarchan, sonnet is derived from the
14th-century poet PETRARCH, who refi ned the sonnet
and the sonnet sequence in Italy. SIR THOMAS WYATT
and HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY, brought the son-
net into England, and Wyatt translated many of
Petrarch’s poems. While the fi rst English sonnet
sequence was by ANNE VAUGHAN LOCK (refl ections of
Psalm 51 in 1560), SIR PHILIP SIDNEY’s ASTROPHIL AND
STELLA (published in 1591 and again in 1598) repre-
sents the fi rst Petrarchan sonnet sequence in England.
Astrophil and Stella offers typical Petrarchan CONCEITs:
the poet’s unrequited love, the unrelenting lady, images
of Cupid, descriptions of the beloved’s beauty (the BLA-
ZON), and the poet’s failure to win the lady’s love.
Atypical sequences also appeared in the 16th cen-
tury. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’s sonnets (published in
1609) take some of these Petrarchan motifs and make
drastic changes to the typical scenario. He addresses
Sonnets 1–126 to a young man, known as the LOVELY
BOY, and Sonnets 127–154 talk about the woman com-
monly known as the DARK LADY. SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS
tend to be refl ective or nostalgic rather than longing.
Shakespeare also utilizes a different sonnet structure
than his predecessors, the English sonnet (also called
the Shakespearean sonnet because of his infl uence on
this form). EDMUND SPENSER’s sonnet sequence AMORETTI
(1595), dedicated to his bride, Elizabeth Boyle, differs
from Sidney’s and Shakespeare’s sequences in both
form and content. Amoretti does have the typical
Petrarchan motif of the lover trying to win the lady’s
hand, but in this sequence he actually succeeds. A col-
lection of poems called EPITHALAMION accompanied
Amoretti in publication and enforce the difference
between typical Petrarchan sequences and Spenser’s
(epithalamion means wedding song).
The sonnet sequence is a very signifi cant poetic fea-
ture for several reasons. First, as some scholars and crit-
ics argue, poets used their sonnets for political or
monetary reasons. For example, there is the argument
that Shakespeare’s poems portray his relationship with
his patron Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton,
and during this time writers commonly sought the
PATRONAGE of those who could support them fi nancially.
Critics have also argued that Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella
expresses his political frustrations with Queen ELIZA-
BETH I, and therefore she is Stella. They suggest that Sid-
ney wanted to demonstrate her power over him
politically, and he therefore used this language to fl atter
the queen in an attempt to advance his status at court.
In addition, an argument exists that sonnets reveal
important biographical insights into authors’ personal
lives. The “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets 127–
154 could be, as some have suggested, his mistress (poet
Aemelia Lanyer has been suggested), while the rival poet
in other Shakespeare sonnets could refer to Ben Jonson.
Some argue that Stella in Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella is
Penelope Devereaux, the woman whom Sidney had
once entertained marrying, and that his sonnets display
his disappointment over losing her to Lord Rich in 1581.
Edmund Spenser also seems to present biographical
details in Sonnet 74 of Amoretti. He references his
mother, the queen, and his wife Elizabeth in one of his
sonnets, and some have said that both Amoretti and Epi-
thalamion refer to his courtship and marriage.
The sonnet and the sonnet sequence had become
tired by the early 17th century, but poets later contin-
ued the tradition with some alterations. Lady Mary
Wroth wrote Pamphilia to Amphilanthus (1621) and
imitated conventions that her uncle, Sir Philip Sidney,
had used in Astrophil and Stella. However, she did alter
a signifi cant detail: The beloved becomes male and the
pining lover female. John Donne wrote his Holy Son-
nets before his death in 1633. Instead of a lover com-
plaining about his unrelenting beloved, these sonnets
discuss his relationship with God.
FURTHER READING
Dubrow, Heather. Echoes of Desire: English Petrarchism and
Its Counter-Discourses. Ithaca, N.Y., and London: Cornell
University Press, 1995.
Lever, J. W. The Elizabethan Love Sonnet. London: Methuen,
1966.
Kerri Lynn Allen“SOOTE SEASON, THE” (“DESCRIP-
TION OF SPRING, WHEREIN EVERY
THING RENEWS, SAVE ONLY THE
LOVER”) HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY
(1547) This SONNET, along with HENRY HOWARD,“SOOTE SEASON, THE” 421