The Classification of Sanaei's Sonnets

The classification of various kinds of poems is one of the important issues in genre studies. The sonnets of Sanaei are amongst the rare instances which have also been classified in manuscripts and the very poems have been inserted in the writings of correctors and other Sanaei researchers. Critically exploring the past classifications, this paper tries to propose a new model according to which the sonnets are classified into two structural and content levels. At the first level, they are categorized into four groups and, then, it is revealed that amongst them simply some parts can be named as sonnet and the rest are sonnet-like providing the ground for the genesis of the sonnet. At the content level, the sonnets are categorized into description-oriented and advice-oriented each of which enjoys several sub-categories. This model can show both the role of Sanaei in the evolution of Persian sonnet and provide an almost clear image of the structure and motifs of sonnets.