The Making of a Sonnet: A Norton Anthology

by Eavan Boland (Editor), Edward Hirsch (Editor)

An enlightening, celebratory anthology of the most classic and enduring of forms edited by two major poets. This illuminating anthology follows the sonnet through its various moments and makers over five and a half centuries. Edward Hirsch and Eavan Boland, two of our foremost poets, focus on vicissitudes, paying particular attention to how individual poets―from Shakespeare to Strand―have claimed these fourteen lines: lengthened them, shortened them, elaborated on them, and, in turn, been defined by them. Three sections―"The Sonnet in the Mirror," "The Sonnet Goes to Different Lengths," and "The Sonnet extraordinary durability and its reinventions. The collection opens with personal introductions by the editors, and, in the appendix, they provide "Ten Questions for a Sonnet Workshop" to jump-start a conversation between students and teachers. With more than three hundred poems, The Making of a Sonnet guides readers through a vigorous adventures in craft and practice, right up to its extraordinary resurgence in contemporary poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies, Shakespeare, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2007

About the author

Born in Dublin in 1944, Eavan Boland studied in Ireland, London and New York. Her first book was published in 1967. She taught at Trinity College, University College Dublin, Bowdoin College, the University of Iowa, and Stanford University. A pioneering figure in Irish poetry, Boland's works include The Journey and other poems (1987), Night Feed (1994), The Lost Land (1998) and Code (2001). Her poems and essays appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Kenyon Review and American Poetry Review. She was a regular reviewer for the Irish Times. She was married to the novelist Kevin Casey.

Reviews

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i hate sonnets sorry

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title is a bit deceptive as this is primarily an anthology, but from an anthology you really couldn't ask for more. It covers the evolution of the sonnet century by century, beginning with the 16th. It of course includes all the biggies (Shakespeare, Hopkins, Millay, etc.), but the 20th century especially is riddled with poets unknown or only barely known to me. Here's one:

from Mystery Train
David Wojhan

1. Homage: Light From the Hall

It is Soul Brother Number One, James Brown,
Chanting, "It wouldn't be nothing,
Noth-iiiinnnnnggg...."
Dismembering the notes until everything hangs
On his mystical half-screech, notes skidding 'round
Your brain as you listen, rapt, thirteen,
Transistor and its single earphone tucked
With you beneath the midnight covers, station WKED,
Big Daddy Armand, The Ragin' Cajun,
"Spinning the bossest platters for you all,"
Golden age trance, when New Orleans stations
Traveling two thousand miles shaped distance
Into alchemy. Beneath the door, a light from the hall
Bathing the bedroom in its stammering glow:
Cooke and Redding risen, James Brown quaking the
Apollo.


And another (and older) just because...

Sonnet 30
Edmund Spenser

My love is lyke to yse, and I to fyre;
How comes it then that this her cold so great
Is not dissolved through my so hot desyre.
But harder growes the more I her intreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
Is not delayd by her hart frosen cold:
But that I burne much more in boyling sweat,
And feele my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told,
That fire which all things melts, should harden yse:
And yse which is congeald with sencelesse cold,
Should kindle fyre by wonderful devyse?
Such is the powre of love in gentle mind,
That it can alter all the course of kynd.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection, organized by century. Extraordinary to see the ways in which the form developed over time, and also the unique approach of each poet within the same strict form. Lovely.

Here's a sample:

The Illiterate - by George Meredith

Touching your goodness, I am like a man
Who turns a letter over in his hand
And you might think this was because the hand
Was unfamiliar, but, truth is, the man
Has never had a letter from anyone;
And now he is both afraid of what it means
And ashamed because he has no other means
To find out what it says than to ask someone.
His Uncle could have left the farm to him,
Or his parents died before he sent them word,
Or the dark girl changed and want him for beloved.
Afraid and letter-proud, he keeps it with him.
What would you call his feeling for the words
That keep him rich and orphaned and beloved?


106) Death Be Not Proud - John Donne
106) Batter My Heart - " "
143) Grasshopper and the Cricket - Leigh Hunt
155) Half My Life is Gone - Longfellow
155) The Sheaves - " "
189) The Silken Tent - Frost
190) Never Again - " "
213) View - Phyllis McGinley
232) The Illiterate - William Meredith
237) The Snow Weed - Howard Moss
238) Jacob's Ladder - Donald Davie
239) Death By Drowning - Elizabeth Brewster
242) Mrs. Snow - Donald Justice
251) Llanto - Philip Levine
258) Conversation Among the Ruins - Sylvia Plath
264) Poetic - K. Fields
267) Sonnet - Robert Pinsky
300) Sonnet - Michelangelo
305) Wreath - George Herbert
332) American Sonnet - Billy Collins
344) I Find No Peace - Petrarch
344) My Lady - Michelangelo
351) Night Scene - Paul Verlaine
360) Sonnet - Phillippe Jaccottet

[Brian Wasserman · Rating 2 out of 5]

For all purposes this is probably one of the largest collections of sonnets, many of them devoted to modern sonnets as opposed to ones from different languages or different eras. I recommend the Art of The Sonnet by Stephen Burt as a substitute-the selection isnt as extensive, but the choices are much better with regards to quality and conceit, whereas the choices from this anthology seem much more random and not as carefully thought out.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Norton Anthology in all the best and worst ways. If you go by the number of pages devoted to the various incarnations of the sonnet in this anthology, you'd come to the conclusion that the 20th century English language sonnet is the highpoint in the history of the form with some minor attention given to international sonneteers such as Neruda or Rilke. The layout of the book was also problematic as you are given a detailed breakdown of sonnet mechanics at the very end of the volume, if the breakdown was at the start of the anthology I would have a better appreciation for the intent of the poems outside of my normal aesthetics.

If you are interested in a deeper look at the history of the English language sonnets, I'd recommend The Sonnet: A Comprehensive Anthology of British and American Sonnets from the Renaissance to the Present, Edited by Robert M. Bender and Charles L. Squier.

[Haines Eason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry, perfunctory. This volume calls out the requisite list of classics for their particular merits. Another canonical compendium from Norton, and little substantive material included re: the composition of sonnets themselves.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of sonnets and commentaries which charted the history and development of one of my favourite poetic forms. It has kickstarted me reading poets I hadn't come across as well as revisiting old favourites.

[Mariela Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discovered many great sonnets, as well as many bad ones. I felt that too much importance was given to the 20th century, whereas other eras were sadly neglected. The curation could have been better, too.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

"10 Questions for a Sonnet Workshop"

[John Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong anthology of the sonnet form, which gets particular credit for devoting its largest section to the 20th Century.

[Ronni Kurtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-chosen anthology of sonnets spanning centuries and continents. I was hoping for a bit more substance from the introductory essays, but the anthology is obviously the point of the volume.

[Timothy Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for Rattle's upcoming Sonnet issue. Started reading a few other anthologies at the library, but this seemed to show the most stylistic diversity.

And it did, among the poems. The sonnet's evolution is traced through the centuries, with broad chapters for each, and extra chapters for variable-length and international sonnets, and sonnets about sonnets. The range is impressive, and enough alone to justify owning a copy.

I found the prose commentary to be annoyingly simplistic and hyper-cheerful. Each chapter starts off with a two or three page introduction, but all of them seemed to repeat the mantra: "Wow, a sonnet can do anything! You can write a sonnet about last night's dinner if you want to! Sonnets are super-flexible!" Boland and Hirsch seem not to realize that the same flexibility applies to every style of poem ever written. And every short story and novel and painting and song and sculpture... When you're an artist, you can do whatever you want. The authors treat that fact like a revelation.

From a big book entitled, THE MAKING OF A SONNET, I was hoping for three things: 1) a literary history of the sonnet, 2) discussion about how sonnets are crafted, the pitfalls and potentialities, and 3) lots of good examples. But here, the history is relegated to sparse generalities, and the processes of composition (the "making") isn't even addressed. What we're left with is a very good anthology of sonnets, but nothing more.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly exhaustive in terms of poets represented, this anthology is a remarkable follow up to Norton's The Making of a Poem. My favorite aspect here is the organization: for the most part the chapters progress chronologically, starting with the 16th century and continuing to the 20th. However, it begins with a chapter called "The Sonnet in the Mirror," a chapter dedicated to sonnets about sonnets and sonnet-making. I really enjoyed reading how poets through the ages have grappled with the form. The ending chapters, as well, are interesting: after the 20th century, there are the chapters "The Sonnet Goes to Different Lengths," "The Sonnet Around the World," and "The Sonnet Under the Lamp: A History of Comment on a Form." This is a massive book and worth putting on any shelf.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite section was the one on how sonnets move away and toward 14 lines/iambic pentameter...The selections here are beautifully chosen, including one of the most exquisite of Bishop's poems, "Sonnet" with its skinny shape suggesting a level or a compass needle, and also the wonderful, wounding "Sonnet for Joe," by Sandra McPherson. That poem is a touchstone for me--Write to Contend. The only way this section and this book could have been improved is by including Sherman Alexie's "Tattoo Tears," which is one of the best sonnets (and poems) I've read in a long, long time.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering how many great poems this volume includes, it probably deserves a higher rating. I personally would have liked more in-depth material on the structure, evolution and history of the sonnet, though. Also, it left out most of my favorite examples, but that is obviously very subjective. So three stars it is.
I didn't read every single poem, so I think I will come back to this in the future, as there is still a lot to mine.

[Penni Russon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am rereading this as I participate in Month of Poetry. I am finding it more interesting as an accompaniment to practice than I did when I just read it. As other reviewers have said, much of the commentary is fairly bland.

Because of the title I rather expected there might be some examples of drafting processes of sonnets. I was disappointed.

My favourite chapter is "The Sonnet Goes to Different Lengths', looking at the way practitioners have deconstructed and reconstructed the form.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book traces the history of the sonnet through examples spanning over five centuries. The book focuses on breadth of authors represented, heavily weighted in the twentieth century. While the "traditional" sonnets of the modern era may seem ineffective compared to the superb works of Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, etc. in this volume, the later sections on the new types of sonnets gives some hope that the form will keep going.

[Jamie Cain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read most of the sonnets here, which was my purpose after reading the century updates. Unfortunately, it's too heavy with weaker 20th century sonnets. And the authors' occasional attempts to shoehorn something into the sonnet form (a faux sonnet?) started to grate.

Still, the brief introductions to each century gave me food for thought, and helped to give me an overall picture of the growth of the sonnet form over the centuries.

Onward!

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not often a big poetry fan, but I have read almost all this anthology and enjoyed it immensely. I found there something in the sonnet that communicates and I also found the variety of subjects and authors kept me interested.

[allie wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, I haven't read a lot of sonnets, but this anthology has such a wide array of them and I found many favorites amongst the collection. For a class required anthology, this one was pretty solid. I'd definitely come back to this for personal inspiration.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The choices of poetry and explanations helped me learn more about the fundamentals of poetry. I highly recommend anyone who loves poetry read this.

[Jessie B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both an excellent collection and history of the sonnet as a form, it covers the forms history and also looks at variations and translations.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bound ode to the sonnet form - for both familiar and fresh readers of sonnets.