One of the largest notable difference in the two sonnets is the form used; Keats used an unidentifiable form rather than the standard Shakespearean or Petrarchan form. Wordsworth uses an Italian rhyme scheme in his sonnet to convey his attitude that he does like the "Sonnet's scanty plot of ground." Keats use of an unidentifiable form further extends his attitude that even while being limited the poet can still let the "Muse be free." Other contrasts between the poets and their poems is the use of allusions; Keats alludes to Andromeda, a Greek myth, and Wordsworth does not use allusions, however he does give examples that the reader can relate to.
Both Keats and Wordsworth use elaborate diction to convey the constraint and weight of the sonnets form. The diction in Keats sonnet especially gives the reader a feeling of the chains a poet is bound with in writing a sonnet. Wordsworth uses diction that helps to reader to understand the weight that is lifted from having too much liberty. Both poets create vivid images of the constraintment. Wordsworth uses the examples of the nuns and hermits to give an image of the boundaries that are set by the poem. Keats uses Greek imagery to convey his feeling of restriction.
"In truth the prison, unto which we doom / Ourselves, no prison is." Both Keats and Wordsworth, one feeling constrained and one feeling solace, show that the sonnet