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soft sonnet

Maroseika

Moderator
Russian
Hi,
From William Gifford's "Baviad" (1791):

...when Olaudo Equiano (who, for a black, is not ill-featured) tried his hand at a soft sonnet, and by mistake subscribed it Olauda...

What does mean soft sonnet? Might it be blank verse, for example?
I am unaware of 'soft sonnet' as a literary term. I suspect the writer means something closer to a love sonnet - one expressing tender feelings, at any rate.
I've looked through the OED entry for 'soft' and there's no specific use in poetics mentioned in it, so I'd agree with S1m0n, it's probably one expressing gentler feelings.
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