Poem of the Day: ‘On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It Was Frequented by a Lunatic’
Though the title might prime us to expect a comic poem, this sonnet evinces a sympathetic engagement with its difficult subject.
Charlotte Smith (1749–1806), whose “I Can in Groups These Mimic Flowers Compose” appeared as Poem of the Day in April 2022, is credited with the revival of the sonnet in England. Admittedly, since the form’s importation into English in the 16th century, it’s hard to find any long stretch in the English poetic tradition where the sonnet is notable for its absence.
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