The younger sons were also affected. I think that it must have been a horrible experience for them. Because like Dr. Strickland pointed out in class if the men did not have property they could not marry. It would be terrible to find someone and then lose her because you did not have any property. A sonnet must have been the best way for most of the men to express their feelings without, hopefully, causing any distress to the person talked about.
Love poetry is one genre of literature that has been around for the longest time.
Perhaps the reason is because so many people have unreturned love. I for one know that when I put my feelings on paper it helps me to move past that particular feeling. For example I have written poems and short stories about people that I know personally or that I have admired from afar after news of their deaths. Those stories and poems helped me to put the grieving behind me and move on to tresuring the memories I have of those people. I think that a sonnet could work in the same way.