Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SONNET, by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Scorn not the sonnet; critic, you have frowned Last Line: Soul-animating strains, -- alas! Too few. Variant Title(s): "scorn Not The Sonnet; Critic, You Have Frowned""; Subject(s): Milton, John (1608-1674); Poetry & Poets; Sonnet (as Literary Form) | ||||||||
SCORN not the sonnet; critic, you have frowned, Mindless of its just honors; with this key Shakespeare unlocked his heart; the melody Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound; A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound; With it Camoens soothed an exile's grief; The sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned His visionary brow a glow-worm lamp, It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faeryland To struggle through dark ways; and when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand The thing became a trumpet; whence he blew Soul-animating strains, -- alas! too few. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WAS THAT REALLY A SONNET? by ANSELM HOLLO RETICENT SONNET by ANNE CARSON SONNET: OF THREE GIRLS AND OF THEIR TALK by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO WHAT THE SONNET IS by EUGENE JACOB LEE-HAMILTON ON A MAGAZINE SONNET by RUSSELL HILLARD LOINES THE HOUSE OF LIFE: THE SONNET (INTRODUCTION) by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI A JEWISH FAMILY; IN A SMALL VALLEY OPPOSITE ST. GOAR by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |
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