A Sonnet Rhapsody

The first recorded sonnets in English were written in the early 16th century by authors such as Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard Earl of Surrey. The good earl also introduced what became the accepted sonnet rhyming scheme, namely: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. By the end of the same century authors such as Sir Philip Sidney were writing "sonnet sequences" - a series of sonnets on a related theme. Some of these sequences ran to considerable length: in 1609 a sonnet sequence of 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare was published. No-one could dispute that the sonnet was by this time anything but well-entrenched within the lettered English community. In this work I have collated my own compilation of original sonnets - indeed, even some (short!) sonnet sequences. Some of these sonnets do indeed depart from the rhyming schema introduced by the Earl of Surrey, but for these departures I simply plead "artistic licence" and trust that the end result justifies my liberty.