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Sonnets of This Century

Various

This comprehensive anthology of English sonnets of the Nineteenth Century, edited and arranged by William Sharp, was published in 1887. It contains 270 poems by 126 different authors, ranging from the most celebrated poets, like Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth to some who are extremely obscure. Sharp outlines the purpose of the collection as follows: "For the concise expression of an isolated poetic thought an intellectual or sensuous wave keenly felt, emotionally and rhythmically the sonnet would seem to be the best medium. To bring this more clearly home to the mind of the reader unacquainted with the true scope of our sonnet-literature and of the technique of the sonnet itself, and to illustrate its development and capacity, is the aim of this collection." - Summary by Algy Pug