Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles: Delia - Diana

"Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles: Delia - Diana" by Samuel Daniel and Henry Constable is a collection of sonnet cycles written in the late 16th century, reflecting the poetic styles of the Elizabethan era. This compilation includes two prominent works: "Delia," by Samuel Daniel, and "Diana," by Henry Constable, each exploring themes of love, beauty, and longing. The sonnets evoke intense emotional reflections on unrequited love and the nature of beauty, emphasizing the shared poetic conceits and stylistic influences of the time. At the start of "Delia," the poet expresses admiration and despair for his beloved, framing his feelings through a series of carefully crafted sonnets that articulate the pain of love and its complexities. Through metaphorical language, Daniel captures the torment caused by the disdain of "Delia," a character emblematic of beauty yet cruel in her rejection. He contemplates the relationship between love and suffering, as well as the role of poetry in immortalizing his feelings, setting the tone for a deeper exploration of emotional vulnerability that resonates throughout the entire cycle. Additionally, the opening introduces Constable's “Diana,” which similarly traverses themes of admiration and pain, though with a distinct structure, revealing the rich interplay of poetic tradition within these two works. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Henry Constable was an English poet, known particularly for Diana, one of the first English sonnet sequences. In 1591 he converted to Catholicism, and lived in exile on the continent for some years. He returned to England at the accession of King James, but was soon a prisoner in the Tower and in the Fleet. He died an exile at Liège in 1613.