Podcast Summary: The History of the Sonnet
The History of Literature Podcast, Ep. 762
Host: Jacke Wilson
Date: December 29, 2025
Overview
In this engaging, wide-ranging episode, Jacke Wilson dives into “The History of the Sonnet,” tracing its origins, transformation, and persistent appeal across centuries and cultures. Blending humor, literary appreciation, and a generous helping of famous (and infamous) examples, Jacke explores why the 14-line sonnet—simple yet endlessly flexible—remains the “Goldilocks of poetic forms.” He guides listeners from Medieval Sicily through Shakespeare and the Romantics up to experimental, computer-generated poetry, always asking: why does the sonnet persist, and what makes its constraints so liberating for writers and readers alike?
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Setting the Stage: Why Sonnets?
- [03:08] Jacke opens by recalling Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s phrase: “A sonnet is a moment’s monument,” launching into the reasons poets, from Petrarch to Plath, can’t quit the sonnet.
- Why sonnets? “It’s like an exercise that poets have been drawn to over and over for centuries. Why is that?” (05:19)
Notable Quote
- “Sonnets can preserve, can record, can live forever. The sonnet is a curious phenomenon when you think about it... 14 lines. That’s it.” – Jacke Wilson [03:53]
2. The Invention and Evolution of the Sonnet
- [17:25] The sonnet originates in 13th-century Sicily, courtesy of Giacomo da Lentini, a lawyer-poet at Emperor Frederick II’s court. Lentini's mash-up of two Italian poetic forms (quatrains and triplets) yielded the 14-line structure.
- The form spreads to Tuscany through Guittone d’Arezzo, then to Dante and Petrarch.
- English poets adapt, innovate: Wyatt and Surrey introduce the form, then the English sonnet blooms with Shakespeare and his peers.
- Structure shifts: from 4-4-3-3 (Italian) to 4-4-4-2 (English), creating space for that famous “turn” or volta.
Notable Quote
- “Apparently he was mashing up two forms, a pair of quatrains followed by a pair of triplet stanzas... and this perhaps came from a Sicilian folk song.” – Jacke Wilson [17:40]
3. Creativity Within Constraints: Breaking and Bending the Sonnet
- [07:39] Jacke humorously lists the countless sonnet innovations—13, 15 lines, word sonnets, sonnet cycles, sonnets made of tweets, dueling sonnets, wordless sonnets, and more. Every supposed innovation, he points out, “has been done.”
- Artistic experimentation isn’t new—poets have exploded, compressed, and even rendered the sonnet silent.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “The point here is that the sonnet has a rich tradition. It’s a tradition that might seem daunting… Why do we have to follow this structure or live within these restrictions? But poets already have shown how free you can be within the sonnet form.” [11:36]
- “It looks like a solid structure... but it is not a rigid hut or a box or brick walls. The sides are as sheer as silk and they stretch and blow in the wind.” [49:35]
4. Evolution Through the Ages
- [23:35] The sonnet form morphs and migrates:
- Italian & Early European: Lentini, Dante, Petrarch, Michelangelo, etc.
- English Renaissance: Wyatt, Surrey, Shakespeare, Spenser ("might singlehandedly deserve credit for the sustained success of the sonnet in English"), Sidney.
- Romantics and Victorians: Wordsworth brings new subjects; Keats, Shelley, Barrett Browning (whose “Sonnets from the Portuguese” is cited as a classic).
- Modernists & 20th Century: Rilke, Yeats, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Robert Hayden, William Carlos Williams—all experimenting with and stretching the form.
Notable Readings (with Timestamps)
- Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18: [05:21]
- Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130: [09:19]
- Wordsworth, "The World Is Too Much With Us": [29:03]
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "How do I love thee?": [32:16]
- Rilke, "Archaic Torso of Apollo": [34:32]
- Yeats, "Leda and the Swan": [35:42]
- Robert Frost, "Acquainted with the Night": [37:00]
- Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays": [38:08]
- William Carlos Williams, "Sonnet In Search of an Author": [38:55]
- Langston Hughes (unnamed sonnet): [41:18]
5. The Magic Number: Why Fourteen Lines?
- [40:07] Jacke explores theories about the sonnet’s 14-line structure:
- Mathematical (harmonious forms, Fibonacci sequence, the feeling of eight building up, six releasing).
- Human face analogy (first 8 lines = “eyes”, last 6 = “lips and chin”).
- “Eight lines develops a pattern. It feels weighty…a journey. And then there’s…the volta, the turn. And the six lines feel quicker…like the rush down.” [46:20]
- Ultimately, the number is part tradition, part accident, part resonance with the human mind and ear.
Notable Quote
- “It’s the Goldilocks of poetic forms: not too long, not too short. It’s a kind of natural weight and heft.” [42:14]
6. Why Sonnets Endure
- [48:21] Jacke concludes that sonnets fuse history and innovation, constraint and freedom: “It puts you squarely in a tradition and yet allows you to be original.”
- The richness comes from the “fusion of content and form,” and that endless dialogue keeps the form alive.
7. A Human vs. a Computer: The Sonnet Generator Experiment
- [52:12] Jacke reads a sonnet created by an online generator about the podcast. The results are humorously underwhelming:
- “Let me compare you to a humble crust?” Jacke quips: “Why is that a question?” [52:59]
- The point? Genuine, moving sonnets are a fundamentally human art form.
Notable Exchange
- “Sonnets are for humans. They’re by humans. There are four humans, and when they’re at their best, they are human.” [54:04]
8. A Playful Signoff: The Secret Word Sonnet
- Jacke closes with a surprise—a 14-word, one-word-per-line sonnet embedded in his own signoff, turning the simple into the poetic.
Memorable Quotes
-
On constraints and creativity:
“Don’t think you can come up with something to demonstrate that sonnets no longer matter. Sonnets are going to outlast us all. You cannot defeat the sonnet.” – Jacke Wilson [12:23] -
On the sonnet’s appeal:
“Looking at you, Villanelle. Readers know the form of a sonnet. It’s familiar, but it doesn’t read like a trick or a party game… It reads like a good length for a poem.” [42:01] -
On human vs. AI-written poetry:
“With all due respect to our computer overlord. Our computer overlords, this is an awful poem… Sonnets are for humans. They’re by humans.” [54:03]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 03:08 — Introduction to sonnets; Rossetti quote
- 05:21 — Readings: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18
- 09:19 — Readings: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130
- 17:25 — Origin of the sonnet with Giacomo da Lentini
- 23:35 — History: Spread in Italy and to England
- 29:03 — Reading: Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much With Us”
- 32:16 — Reading: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How do I love thee?”
- 34:32 — Reading: Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo”
- 35:42 — Reading: Yeats, “Leda and the Swan”
- 37:00 — Reading: Frost, “Acquainted with the Night”
- 38:08 — Reading: Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”
- 38:55 — Reading: Williams, “Sonnet In Search of an Author”
- 41:18 — Reading: Langston Hughes, modern sonnet
- 40:07 — The "14 lines" question and mathematical, physical, and poetic explanations
- 48:21 — Why sonnets endure; closing insights
- 52:12 — Reading: Computer-generated sonnet
- 55:02 — Secret one-word-per-line “word sonnet” signoff
Tone, Language, and Style
Jacke is conversational, gently humorous, and infectious in his literary enthusiasm. He banters with listeners, never takes himself too seriously, and peppers his explanations with asides, analogies (e.g., “pizza bursting at the seams”), and mock exasperation (“Why are you talking about the Great Fortnight?”).
Conclusion
This episode is less a dry history than an invitation to participate in a living, breathing tradition. Whether you're new to poetry or a seasoned sonneteer, Jacke makes the form’s vitality—and its endless mutability—irresistible. If you finish the episode wanting to write your own 14 lines, that’s by design.
“Write your sonnet. We have a lot of them already, but that doesn’t matter. Clearly we need a few more.” – Jacke Wilson [51:18]