Review by Booklist Review
The word new is missing from the title of Oxford's latest anthology, and perhaps this is the venerable publisher's first survey of the sonnet in English. It seems a companionable reader rather than a teaching text, which is only right, in view of the 14-line poetic form's reputation for intimacy and personality. Fuller doesn't neglect the sonnet's historical variations in mode and prosodic practice. The early sonnet's amorousness; the political and religious intents of the sonnets of Milton and those he inspired, most notably Wordsworth; the satire of the numerically rare eighteenth-century sonnet; the celebration of nature in the sonnets of the Romantic period; the Victorians' propensity for compact sonnet sequences; and Hopkins' radical experimentation with the form--all these and their subsequent influences are evident in Fuller's selection. Indisputable masterpieces appear plentifully, but Fuller's determination to present a large number of distinguished practitioners assures that there are also many superb poems by virtual unknowns. And Fuller's introduction is a sharp-witted miracle of concise comprehensiveness. --Ray Olson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
