Sonnet cycle
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A sonnet cycle, or sonnet sequence, is a group of sonnets arranged around a particular person, subject, or theme. The poems are intended to work both as complete individual sonnets and as parts of a larger poetic composition.
The sequence may address any subject, although unrequited love is especially common. The order of the poems often reflects thematic development, chronology, seasonal change, argument, or allegorical structure.
Although a sonnet cycle may suggest real or fictional events, it is rarely primarily narrative. Narrative elements usually provide a background framework while the main emphasis remains on the poetic treatment of emotion, thought, imagery, and form.
Notable sonnet sequences have been written by poets including Petrarch, Dante, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, William Shakespeare, John Donne, William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
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- Source / publisher: Wikipedia
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: Wikipedia
- URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_cycle