Sonnet 32 the love declaration should be considered significant as it characterizes the speaker's tone and content. However, the audience should "take with a pinch of salt" the seemingly modest self-denunciation and claims of inadequacy put forth by the speaker; due to the fact that they are simply a means by which the speaker emphasizes his affection for the subject. Subsequently, the content of Sonnet 32 is dependent upon the outlook of the speaker and the love he feels for the subject. Sonnet 32 is written in the English (Shakespearean) sonnet form. It consists of 14 lines: 3 quatrains followed by a
Caudate sonnet is one of many in which Hopkins experimented with variations on sonnet form. However, unlike the curtal sonnet, a Hopkins invention which is a 10½-line form with precisely the same proportions as a Petrarchan sonnet, his caudate sonnet is a full sonnet unmodified but with an extra six lines. Hopkins heightens the effect of the extension with an enjambment from the 14th line to the 15th. Hopkins explored the possibility of such a coda in a series of letters exchanged with Robert Bridges, from whom he learned of the centrality of Milton's example in the form. Though the intent of