There are many forms of sonnet and it is still regarded as the most popular form of love poetry. However, the sonnet can serve other purposes and indeed Shakespeare himself used the Sonnet form not only to woo and win his lover, but also to act as a mentor to a young lad and offer advice to him about life and also in wooing a lady.

The original Sicilian form of the Sonnet used repeating words rather than rhyme, and like the Sestina and some French forms, may have originated from Troubadour forms. At the time of the emergence of the Sonnet in Italy the Christians were beginning to reclaim lands from the dominance of the Moors. It is arguable that the Sonnet may have emerged from the same sources that influenced French and Spanish poetry.

Although Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), is credited with the first Sonnet written in English, Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), had already written Canticus Troili after the style of Francesco Petrarca, and the Earl of Surry an associate of Wyatt, can share some of the credit for introducing the form to England, but he is more important as an early modifier of the Italian form.

Many people will argue that the only true sonnet is in Iambic Pentameter an English poetry form and yet the very origins of the sonnet was an established Italian romance form which the English adapted during a period when the English language itself was not formalised. As well as the French sonnet there is the Rondel Prime, and is sometimes called a French sonnet, should we ignore it because it is French and not in Iambic Pentameter (IP)? We already know that some conventional forms do not have IP either. The Rondel Prime has the basic requirements, it is a little song and it has 14 lines. Surely as poets we have to open our minds not close them??

If we include the French, then we must also include others. The Arabs who are notoriously romantic and construct 14 line poems, should be included and what of Asian poets, they may also meet the basic requirements?

Perhaps this bag of worms that has been opened could only be done so on the internet where minds are free. I will leave this up to you to think about, but one thing I will say, no true poet narrows their path or closes their mind to new ideas.

This second part has some Repeating Poetry Forms and whilst still retaining their essential form, they have been modified slightly to make a sonnet. The Ghazal, Luc Bat and the Rondel Prime are natural sonnets also the Kyrielle only needed additional lines. All alterations have been done to retain as much of original form as possible, with the exception of the Sestina. The Sestina Sonnet is really only a shadow or little sister of the conventional Sestina, but never the less it still retains the fundamentals.

The Alfred Dorn sonnet can be considered to be a modern sonnet having been created by a poetic master and attained acceptance by winning a poetry contest.