Sonnets by Helen Vendler

Helen Vendler outlines how the sonnets work on different levels. The speaker resorts to many incompatible models of existence within the same poem. Though the sonnets are always openly drifting toward emblematic or allegorical language, they are plucked back into the perceptual as their symbolic rose is distilled into real perfume. I'm going to reveal my ranking of the top 10 and you can find your own in the show notes.