On the Sonnet John Keats and William Wordsworth - a comparison of two poems

John Keats and William Wordsworth ironically wrote two sonnets about the sonnet with contrasting attitudes. Both authors have different ideas and feelings about the constraints imposed on the poet by the sonnet form. Keats, although he feels negatively about the constraints imposed by the sonnet format, he writes the sonnet in his own creative unidentifiable form. Wordsworth however, tells the reader that he uses the format of the sonnet as a refuge and solace from "…

…is." Both Keats and Wordsworth, one feeling constrained and one feeling solace, show that the sonnet form is not a prison. Keats feels that even while being constrained, the poet must still be creative and not be bound by the format, but by "garlands of [one's] own." Wordsworth's attitude is one of solace and contentment, that although will still being bound, one must understand that the format lifts the weight imposed by "too much liberty."