What Is A Sonnet?

The word "sonnet" came to the English language from either the Italian or French word "sonetto" and was taken from the Old Provencal word "sonnet" the diminutive of the word "son" meaning song and derived from the Latin word "sonus" meaning "a sound". The word "sonnet" is actually a noun that refers to a verse that consists of fourteen lines and has a characteristic rhyme scheme which is one of several conventional types. Sonnet refers to a poem that is generally in the said form.

Though sonnets can be traced back to the thirteenth century in Italy they were introduced to England by around the sixteenth century. The first were of a Thomas Wyatt credited with having presented translations of Italian and French works. The current century has seen a kind of resurgence of the sonnet.

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