Developed in Sicily by a bloke called Giacomo da Lentini in the thirteenth century, this little poetic form (whose conventions had not yet been formalised) inspired the greatest poets of the Italian Renaissance. The sonnet is originally an Italian invention - and the word sonnet itself is derived from the Italian word “sonetto,” which means a “little song” or sound. What is super-important to remember in the study of literature is that poetic conventions are determined by history - meaning that you need to know the history of poetic forms if you are really going to understand what the poets are doing. These conventions are what make a sonnet a sonnet (and don't panic, as we outline these below). This means that the word refers to a range of different poems that share certain conventions of length, structure, style, and themes. For those of you who have never before set foot into the world of literature, let's start from the very basics.
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