Henry Howard the Earl of Surrey as a Sonneteer I Surrey's Contribution, Blank Verse, Wyatt and Surrey

 

Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey (1517-1547) is the second important poet of the 16^th century English literature. His poetry is often associated with that of Thomas Wyatt, whose work was published alongside Surrey’s in ‘Tottel’s Miscellany’ (1557). As a poet he wrote love poems and elegies and translated Books 2 and 4 of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’.

 SURREY’S – AN INNOVATOR OF SONNET:

A major poet of the 16th century, Surrey is credited with developing the Shakespearean form of the sonnet. He is the second sonneteer in English literature after Thomas Wyatt. On one hand, Thomas Wyatt tried his best to translate Italian sonneteer; on the other hand, Surrey not only tried but also reformed the style of writing sonnets. If Thomas Wyatt is known as an artist and the pioneer of sonnets in English literature then Surrey can be regarded as a craftsman as he improved the structure and style of composing a sonnet.

Like Thomas Wyatt he also followed the Petrarch’s style yet he did not simply copy them. Surrey, with a crafty hand, modified the existing form of sonnet. He used three quatrains and a couplet in his sonnet. He wrote in iambic pentameter lines imparting proper rhyming pattern abab cdcd efef gg. This was the new form of sonnet invented by Surrey and imitated by Shakespeare.

SURREY’S INVENTION OF BLANK VERSE:

He also introduced blank verse to English - a form that he used in his translations of Virgil. Blank Verse poetry does not have rhyming words at the end of the lines but they are written in iambic pentameter lines. This new style of writing poetry became a fashion among other Elizabethan poets and dramatists. Shakespeare and Marlowe too inspiration from Surrey and used this blank verse profusely in their poetry and drama.

CONCLUSION:

Regarding Surrey’s contribution to English poetry, Emile Legouis rightly commented:

“His metrical innovations are important: he was the first to give to the sonnet its purely English form, less elaborate than the Italian but perhaps more suited to a language with fewer rhymes. His chief title to fame is his introduction of blank verse in his translation of Virgil’s Aenied.”

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