Sonnets: From Dante to the Present

by John Hollander (Editor)

"A sonnet is a moment's monument," said Dante Gabriel Rossetti in a sonnet about sonnets.

The sonnets in this collection—whether they capture moments of perception, recognition, despair, or celebration—reveal how great an amount of feeling, insight, and experience can be concentrated into a mere fourteen lines.

Here are classics such as Milton's "On His Blindness," Yeats's "Leda and the Swan," and Frost's "The Oven Bird," juxtaposed with the mischievous wit of Rupert Brooke's "Sonnet Reversed," the lyric defiance of Mona Van Duyn's "Caring for Surfaces," and the comic poignancy of Philip Larkin's "To Failure." From the lovelorn laments of Dante and Petrarch to the artful heights of Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare, from the masterpieces of Wordsworth and Keats to the innovations of Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace Stevens, and James Merrill, the sonnet has proved both versatile and enduring.

This delightful anthology displays the incredible range and power of the verse form that has inspired poets across the centuries.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2001

Reviews

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I consider how the sonnet is
Only fourteen lines, and yet how so very
Hard it is to compose one, like to kiss
A girl way out of one’s league, such as Mary
Queen of Scots,—I cry. Mary’s dead of course;
And attempting to kiss a sonnet must
Appear as odd as trying to write a corpse,—
The kind of girl I don’t think I could trust.
But can the sonnet ever really die?
Observe the yellow partings of the year
When tall trees seem to be waving us goodbye:
Aren’t they making it abundantly clear
That every year new leaves, kisses and sonnets
Return like girls in their bright winter bonnets?

[Mohammed omran · Rating 1 out of 5]

لسه مش مجمع من الكتاب حاجه محتاج اقرا تاني

[Patrick Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection. The sonnet really is the perfect form: not too long, not too short, but just right. Goldilocks poetry.

[Jeremy Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good variety of sonnets, some written in English, some translated into English. The poems are arranged chronologically, so you really get a feel for the development of this beautiful form of poetry over the centuries.

[Grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection did not move me. In his choice of poems to include, the editor made an effort to show the origins and evolution of the sonnet form, and then bring in a variety of modern interpretations. But, for me at least, there were too many early sonnets, bland and insipid, in part because most of the translations from Italian are in archaic English. I'd have rather read more modern sonnets, with a wider range of themes and experiments with the form.

[Sean]

Standouts for me:
"Prayer," George Herbert (so good)
"Composed Upon Westminster Bridge," Wordsworth
"A Lock of Hair," Henrich Heine (love that melodrama)
"On the Road to Waterloo," Dante Gabriel Rosetti
"The New Collosus," Emma Lazarus

[MKF]

DNF - page 140.

[Beemz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fancy collection of poems by a sometimes surprising selection of authors (Michelangelo Buonarotti?!) that kinda chronicles the "evolution" of the sonnet, but not really. Small enough to pocket and read in public, with enough poems to pick one at random to recite to strangers, this is a great little book.

[Sabra]

not a fan of sonnets.

[Jaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this from a friend after winning a sonnet battle. I love the sonnet form and this is a great collection.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't stop reading, and even though I didn't understand some sonnets, they were really good.

[Marwa Soubra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each page has a different taste of romance,love, hate, life , philosophy , sadness ..through out time

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5