When I was reading about the various forms of the sonnet...Petrarchan...abba...Shakespearean...abab....I thought about how long this amazing form has been around. Introduced in the fourteenth century, the sonnet has definitely lasted the test of time. In Shakespeare's day, it was primarily used as an expression of love, beaty, romance, passion, ect. In more recent poetry the subject of the sonnet has deviated from its original themes to other, surprising topics; nevertheless, the sonnet continues as a powerful, legitimate form of poetic expression despite its varying content. For example, Claude Mackay, a black poet fighting for civil rights utilized the form of the sonnet in his poem, The Harlem Dancer, to legitimize his argument to white readers. By using a well recognized, well respected form of poetry he cleverly phrases an argument that, in turn, must be respected.