Thanks to those who commented on my sonnets.
Englands Helicon includes all sorts of poems calling themselves
sonnets which don't fit what we think of as a sonnet pattern. I'm not
sure if these fit some other definition of sonnet, or if the poets of
that time were just using "sonnet" to mean "lyric poem."
Wait a minute, lemme lug out my OED. Let's see, sonnet, here it is.
It gives the standard definition (14 lines, etc.) first, but as a
second definition, a short lyric poem, esp. of amatory character, and
it notes that between 1580 and 1650 the word was freely used in either
way.
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Jon Corelis www.geocities.com/jgcorelis/
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