Sonnet Sonnet A sonnet is a poem in a specific form which originated in Italy; Giacomo da Lentini is credited with its invention. The term "sonnet" is derived from the Italian word "sonetto" (from Old Provençal "sonet" a little poem, from "son" song, from Latin "sonus" a sound). By the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. Conventions associated with the sonnet have evolved over its history. Writers of sonnets are sometimes called "sonneteers", although the term can be used derisively. The sonnet was created by Giacomo da Lentini, head
Sonnet 15 that Sonnet 15's closing line "As he [i.e. Time] takes from you, I engraft you new" (15.14) is the "first of several traditional claims for the immortalizing power of verse." This theme of poetic immortality is continued in later sonnets, including sonnet 17's closing couplet "You should live twice: in [your child] and in my rhyme," in sonnet 18's last few lines "Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade / When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. / So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life