The sonnet has a major influence on literature as a whole. There were three main types of sonnets: English, Italian and Spenserian. These three sonnets all have different patterns or configurations. The evolution of the sonnet through history, typographic forms and analysis of sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare, sonnet 30 by Edmund Spenser and Sonnet 19 by John Milton. Developed in Italy during the Renaissance, the sonnet brought a high form of development in the 14th century ("A Brief History of Sonnets"). A sonnet is a poem composed of fourteen lines, it generally expresses a single complete idea. The sonnet was introduced to England by Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey in the 16th century (Shaw 351). The sonnet began as a variation of the Italian model; the form is said to have resulted from the addition of a double refrain. Sonnet theory developed slowly during this period due to unrealistic extreme purism. The Petarchan model was introduced to England and adjusted the rhyme scheme and meter to fit the English language. The sonnet was not introduced to America until the last quarter of the 18th century through the work of Colonel David Humphrey. Over the past century, the themes of sonnets in Europe and America have expanded to incorporate almost every subject and mood. The sonnet has a successful history in England and showed immediate preference among English writers (Sonnets). The three most widely recognized versions of the sonnet with their traditional rhyme scheme are English, Italian, and Spenserian (sonnets). The sonnets are generally referring to the same thing, love either for a woman or for God, according to Babette Deutsch in, The Poetry Handbook A Dictionary of Terms (Deustsch, 169)... middle of paper. ..... production found in earlier works (Sonnets). Sonnets have played a major role in literature since the beginning. Sonnets have different history, types and forms. Sonnets are not just written. Frank N Magill once said: “The greatness of sonnets lies in their intellectual and emotional power…..”(Magill 1164).Works Cited “A Brief History of Sonnets”. Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger Shakespeare Library, nd web. March 18, 2014 Deutsch, Babette. Handbook of Poetry, A Dictionary of Terms. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1895.Print.Magill, Frank N, ed. Masterpieces of world literature. New York: Harper and Row, 1968.Print.Shaw,Harry.Dictionary of Literarcy Terms.New York:McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1972.PrintSonnets (from It. Sonetto, a little sound or song).TVFB;LJZ; CS A.New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics B. 1993 C.1-5.Book Collection:Nonfiction.March 20,2014