Spenser's Sonnet No. 75

Edmund Spenser - Spenser was born in London in 1552. Sir Philip Sidney was his friend and patron. Sidney introduced him to Queen Elizabeth. When Sidney died, Spenser wrote an elegy in his memory and honour, titled, "Astrophel". Spenser is also famous for The Shepherd's Calendar, The Faerie Queene, Amoretti, Epithalamion, etc. Amoretti is a sonnet sequence consisting of 88 (or 89) sonnets. They were composed to celebrate his love for Elizabeth Boyle whom Spenser married in 1594. However, many modern critics believe that some sonnets are addressed to Lady Carey or to an idealized or fictionalized woman. Spenser dwelt in the Kilcolman castle in Ireland. But in 1598 Tyrone's rebellion broke out. The castle was set on fire, and Spenser escaped. He died in the next year of extreme poverty and starvation.

Origin and Types of Sonnets - 

Petrarchan Sonnet - The sonnet originated in Italy in the thirteenth century. Giacomo da Lentini, a thirteenth century Sicilian poet of Italy, was credited with the invention of sonnet. Though he wrote in original Sicilian language, his poems survive in Tuscan. His poetry was an adaptation to Italian of the Provençal poetry of the troubadours, concerning courtly, chivalric love. Dante (1265-1321) wrote a number of sonnets to his ladylove, Beatrice. But it was Petrarch (1304-74) who brought it to perfection by writing sonnets idealizing his love for Laura. Petrarch's sonnet form became well-known, especially in France by Ronsard (1524-85) and Du Bellay (1522-60). The Petrarchan sonnet, which is also called Italian sonnet, is composed of an octave and a sestet. An octave is a passage of eight lines and sestet of six lines. In the Petrarchan sonnet, the octave rhymes thus - ABBA ABBA. The sestet rhymes - CD CD CD, or CDE CDE. 

English or Shakespearean Sonnet - However, in England, the sonnet form was introduced by Thomas Wyatt and his student, Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey. Wyatt followed the Petrarchan model, which was further obeyed by John Milton. Milton's "On His Blindness" is a famous Petrarchan sonnet. But Henry Howard experimented with the form and split it into three quatrains and a concluding couplet. It is called English sonnet or Shakespearean sonnet, as it was William Shakespeare who made this structure of sonnet prominent. The rhyme scheme of Shakespearean sonnet is: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. 

Spenserian Sonnet - Edmund Spenser, later, brought certain flexibilities and changes into this structure. He transformed the rhyme scheme into thus: ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. This is called Spenserian Sonnet. 

Curtal Sonnet - There is also another type of sonnet called Curtal Sonnet. It was invented by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It consists of eleven (or ten and half) lines. Here sestet is used first part and then a quatrain and a half line is implemented.