<P> When English sonnets were introduced by Thomas Wyatt ( 1503 -- 1542 ) in the early 16th century , his sonnets and those of his contemporary the Earl of Surrey were chiefly translations from the Italian of Petrarch and the French of Ronsard and others . While Wyatt introduced the sonnet into English , it was Surrey who developed the rhyme scheme -- abab cdcd efef gg -- which now characterizes the English sonnet . Having previously circulated in manuscripts only , both poets ' sonnets were first published in Richard Tottel 's Songes and Sonnetts , better known as Tottel 's Miscellany ( 1557 ) . </P>
<P> When English sonnets were introduced by Thomas Wyatt ( 1503 -- 1542 ) in the early 16th century , his sonnets and those of his contemporary the Earl of Surrey were chiefly translations from the Italian of Petrarch and the French of Ronsard and others . While Wyatt introduced the sonnet into English , it was Surrey who developed the rhyme scheme -- abab cdcd efef gg -- which now characterizes the English sonnet . Having previously circulated in manuscripts only , both poets ' sonnets were first published in Richard Tottel 's Songes and Sonnetts , better known as Tottel 's Miscellany ( 1557 ) . </P>
when was the sonnet introduced in england and by whom
when was the sonnet introduced in england and by whom
the early 16th century Thomas Wyatt
the early 16th century Thomas Wyatt