the sonnet first appeared in italy during the middle ages and was widely used during the renaissance. the first poet known for his sonnets is giacomo da lentini who lived in the 13th century. after him many poets started writing sonnets. two notable ones are dante alighieri and guido cavalcanti. the italian poet petrarch was famous for his sonnets. he was very popular and many poets imitated his poems. francisco de sá de miranda introduced the form into portuguese literature. so did thomas wyatt and henry howard, earl of surrey in england. even in distant poland sonnets were written by jan kochanowski, mikołaj sęp szarzyński and sebastian grabowiecki. it became common for poets to write sonnets in connected series, called "sonnet sequences," to tell a story, often one about a love affair. michelangelo, a famous sculptor and painter wrote sonnets, too. he exchanged them with vittoria colonna. poets in other countries quickly adopted the sonnet and sonnet sequence. william shakespeare wrote the most famous sonnets in english literature, though other poets of his time, such as ben jonson, edmund spenser, michael drayton, and samuel daniel, wrote sonnet sequences also.