In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind."



A BRIEF HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SONNET

The sonnet form was introduced into English poetry by Sir Thomas Wyatt
and the Earl of Surrey. Their experiments in the sonnet were published
in _Tottel's Miscellany_ in 1557, and were prompted by an admiration of
Petrarch and other Italian models. Italy was almost certainly the
original home of the sonnet (sonnet=Ital. _sonetto_, _a little sound_, or
_short strain_, from _suono_, _sound_), and there it has been assiduously
cultivated since the thirteenth century. In the fourteenth century Dante
and Petrarch gave the form a European celebrity.


The Structure of the Sonnet.

Before saying anything of its development in English poetry, it is
advisable to examine an admittedly perfect sonnet, so that we may gain an
idea of the nature of this type of poem, both as to form and substance.
Wordsworth's sonnet upon Milton (_London_, 1802) will serve our purpose
(see page 187). By reference to it you will observe:--

(1) That the sonnet is written in iambic pentameter, and consists of
fourteen lines--that number by repeated experimentation having been found
the most appropriate for the expression of a single emotional mood.