The Penguin Book of the Sonnet

By Phillis Levin,

Book cover of The Penguin Book of the Sonnet: 500 Years of a Classic Tradition in English

Book description

One of the oldest literary forms of the post-classical world, the sonnet has engaged nearly every well-known poet writing in a Western language. This collection reveals how each writer - from William Wordsworth to Wilfred Owen - met the challenge of transforming an inherited pattern and convention. The result is…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Penguin Book of the Sonnet as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I have always had old-fashioned tastes when it comes to poetry, and sonnets in particular are a form I have been attracted to. This anthology has the best sonnets from Chaucer to contemporary poets, a real education in the form, and one of my favourites here is by e.e. cummings, titled “I like my body when it is with your body.”

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