Sonnet 55 is one of Shakespeare 's most famous works and a noticeable deviation from other sonnets in which he appears insecure about his relationships and his own self-worth. Here we find an impassioned burst of confidence as the poet claims to have the power to keep his friend 's memory alive evermore.
Sonnet 55 is a poem about time and immortalization. The Writer claims that his beloved will last out this world to the end. According to Alison Scott, ‘the speaker 's poem won 't last much compared to his beloved, even though his beloved is immortalised in the poem, adhering to a larger theme of giving and possessing that runs through many of Shakespeare’s sonnets.’ David Kaula, however, emphasizes the concept of time slightly differently.
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“Marble” and “gilded monuments of princes” (line 1) both remind readers of those who have served their people so well, that they were honoured through monuments and statues. Like in the tombs of English royalty, for example the tomb of Henry VII in Westminster abbey, which contains a large sarcophagus made of black marble and is gilded with pictures of The King and his Queen Elizabeth. Shakespeare’s use of a spondee in line 2 for the phrase “out live,” shows us how important the poem’s subject is to the reader. This idea of infinite legacy causes a break in the iambic pentameter (the typical rhythmic pattern of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55), in order to express the frenzy the speaker feels about the subject’s legacy. Shakespeare tells us that neither of the images in line 1 will uphold the legacy of the speaker’s beloved as this poem will (line 2) even if they have been besmear’d with sluttish time. In Elizabethan England the word "sluttish" could describe either a sexually promiscuous woman or a grubby, unkempt woman. Here Shakespeare personifies Time as the latter. The speaker tells us that instead the subject “shall shine” (line 3) in this poem, brighter than they would at any memorial. Shakespeare’s repetition of the letter “s” in line three draws attention to the earlier mentioned phrase, allowing the reader to create an image of this unnamed …show more content…
Shakespeare effectively uses his uncanny ability for rhythm in his favour to highlight the purpose of his poem. He also uses his vas vocabulary and signature use of enjambment to make the reader think about what is being said and why it is being said in that particular manner. But in true Shakespeare manner, a repetition of reading is needed to gain a greater understanding, also a bit of historical knowledge helps in understanding his thinking at the time. Shakespeare’s sonnets speak volumes within a short and simple fourteen lines. Deciphering through these techniques allows the reader to glean a greater understand of poetry as an art form and also gives the reader a deeper glance at who Shakespeare was. When doing such a close reading of Sonnet 55 we understand how it can feel to lose someone who we care about and what we would do to preserve their memory. Whether this poem was factual or not, the purpose is adequate. Even hundreds of years after the poem was written; after several battles, storms, and human catastrophes, the legacy of the poem’s anonymous subject lives on and continue to be honoured through this
In lines two and three, Shakespeare writes to the woman “thou art more lovely and more temperate: / rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” (2-3). You can see in those two lines that the poet views nature as harsh and unenjoyable, but contrasts his viewing of the woman as lovely and with more mild characteristics. After describing the qualities of nature and the woman, the speaker goes on to talk about the time given for these assets to last. The speaker believes that the “lease” which translates to “allotted time”, allowed for summer is not enough to compare to the eternal beauty of a woman (4)(Kastan 10). On line nine he talks about the time frame of the woman’s beauty, he writes “but thy eternal summer shall not fade” meaning that her beauty cannot be phased by time, unlike nature (9). In those few lines, the audience can see that although a summer’s day can be rough only for a little while, the beauty of the woman is unfading. At the end of the poem, the audience can understand that the woman’s beauty is sealed in the poem “so long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (14).
"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal [but] which the reader recognizes as his own." (Salvatore Quasimodo). There is something about the human spirit that causes us to rejoice in shared experience. We can connect on a deep level with our fellow man when we believe that somehow someone else understands us as they relate their own joys and hardships; and perhaps nowhere better is this relationship expressed than in that of the poet and his reader. For the current assignment I had the privilege (and challenge) of writing an imitation of William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 87". This poem touched a place in my heart because I have actually given this sonnet to someone before as it then communicated my thoughts and feelings far better than I could. For this reason, Sonnet 87 was an easy choice for this project, although not quite so easy an undertaking as I endeavored to match Shakespeare’s structure and bring out his themes through similar word choice.
Like in quatrain three of Sonnet 116 where personification is used to show that love is not vulnerable to time, despite that beauty fades with time. Then he goes on to say that true love does not change instead it last until Judgment Day and so on. Sonnet 116 concludes with lines thirteen and fourteen saying, “ If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.” Here the speaker expresses pure confidence in the words written that he professes if an error has been made then he has not written a word, and no man has ever loved. The romantic concept that love does not change, but has the ability to outlast death and admit no flaws is the comprehensive theme of the passage (Shakespeare 's Varying Views of Love). Related structures and devices illustrated in Sonnet 116 were also common is Sonnet 29 and continued to be relevant in Sonnet 130.
In this sonnet, Shakespeare is creating a mental picture of spring and summer to compare against his loved one. He uses the fact that fine and beautiful days are the creation of nature, and nature is constantly changing all the time. Fine days never stay the same: 'rough winds' or the sun obscured by clouds, 'and often is his gold complexion dim'd', can easily mar a fine day. He talks about these negative factors of change in the first eight lines, and Shakespeare then uses these ideas to claim that his loved one will always remain untarnished, speaking of how 'thy eternal summer shall not fade' and how his loved one has lasting qualities that will outshine death: 'Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade' These thoughts come to a confident, final... ... middle of paper ... ...
This is an enjoyable sonnet that uses nature imagery, found extensively in Petrarca, that Shakespeare uses to get his point across. Not much explication is needed, aside the sustained images of nature, to fully understand its intent, but I would like to point out a peculiar allusion. When reading line 3, "the violet past prime" has made me think of Venus and Adonis. In the end, Adonis melts into the earth and a violet sprouts where his body was, which Venus then places in her heart, signifying the love she has for him. Reading this into the poem makes the few following lines more significant. Having Adonis portrayed as the handsome youth, Shakespeare is alluding to the death of youth (in general and to the young man) through the sonnet. In the next line, it is not certain if "sable" is an adjective or a noun and if "curls" is a noun, referring to hair (which is plausible) or a verb modifying "sable." Invoking the allusion to Adonis here, Shakespeare portends that if Adonis did live longer, he too would have greying hair; thus, Shakespeare sees ["behold"] an Adonis figure, the young man, past his youth.
"Idea: Sonnet 61" by Michael Drayton is a fourteen line Petrarchan sonnet that dramatizes the conflicting emotions that arise from an intimate relationship coming to an abrupt end. After analyzing and doing several closer readings, I learned that "Idea: Sonnet 61" is actually about the poet’s own conflicting emotions and feelings from a harsh break up. However, it was no ordinary and flippant relationship. It was a serious relationship that involved great amounts of passion that came to a sudden abrupt end. It was a relationship that had a great amount of importance to the poet, whether he is talking about his first wife or even his first love. I believe I confidently can determine and come to the conclusion that this poem is about the poet’s love of his life and his contradicting feelings he is having during and after their separation.
Spencer, Edmund. “Amoretti: Sonnet 54”. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Gen. ed. David Simpson. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2006. 904. Print.
Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 15". The Broadview Anthology of British Literture. Volume A. Petersborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2008.
Shakespeare uses many different methods of discourse to examine this theme of love. In both sonnets the lover is exerting his control over the narrator, but the narrator does not really mind being controlled in either sonnet. Both sonnets include many elements and references to time and waiting and all of these references relate to love by showing love’s long lifespan and varying strengths over time. The only major difference between the two sonnets lies in their addressing love. Sonnet 57 talks directly to it in a personifying manner, whereas sonnet 58 merely refers to it through other means. Through this variety of explorations of the theme of love, Shakespeare shows that love has many faces and ways of expressing itself.
Due to all of these shortcomings of summer, Shakespeare contends in the third quatrain of this sonnet that comparing his lover to this season fails to do her justice. While "often is gold [summer's] complexion dimmed," her "eternal summer shall not fade" (6, 9). She, unlike summer, will never deteriorate. He further asserts that his beloved will neither become less beautiful, nor even die, because she is immortalized through his poetry. The sonnet is concluded with the couplet, "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long live this, and this gives life to thee" (13-14). T...
The first line is “When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes.” The very first word shows that the condition which will be explored in the sonnet is a temporary thing. It comes and goes like a beggar or like an outcast. Shakespeare used the word “when” to put the reader into the time that will be referred to. It automatically calls to mind an occurrence, and it makes the reader continue into the piece, trying to find out what Shakespeare will make occur. The next words are “in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes.” It seems that Shakespeare’s persona is down on his luck. Fortune, noticeably, is capitalized. This makes it a proper noun, a name perhaps. Shakespeare, on the other hand, could be trying to show the reader that fortune is something important, something that has power and meaning. Continuing into the line, “men’s eyes” appears. Notice that it is men’s eyes, not women’s eyes or man’s eyes. The latter, man’s eyes, would make it seem as if the persona was in disgrace with all of mankind, yet Shakespeare specifically chose to have disgrace in “men’s eyes.” This sh...
Sonnet 71 is one of 154 sonnets written by William Shakespeare, and although it may rank fairly low on the popularity scale, it clearly demonstrates a pessimistic and morbid tone. With the use of metaphors, personification, and imagery this sonnet focuses on the poet’s feelings about his death and how the young should mourn him after he has died. Throughout the sonnet, there appears to be a continual movement of mourning, and with a profound beauty that can only come from Shakespeare. Shakespeare appeals to our emotional sense of “feeling” with imagery words like vile, dead, be forgot, and decay, and we gain a better understanding of the message and feelings dictated by the speaker.
While Shakespeare and Spenser have their own sonnet forms and different rhyme schemes, the topics in which they write about in “Sonnet 18” and “Sonnet 75” possess many similarities. A major theme in both of the sonnets is the idea of immortal love. Both sonnets straightforwardly mention the idea of love eternalizing, defying all of time, and conquering all obstacles. Spenser unmistakably mentions that “whenas death shall al the world subdue, our love shall live, and later life renew”. Correspondingly, Shakespeare declares that his and the subject’s love “shall not fade,” but continue to grow. When it comes to a matter of love defying time, both sonnets remain in synchronization, expressing that even with death, love will go on and remain forever, through poetry and memory. Spenser conveys his lover as one who “shall live by fame”, because through “[his] verse [her] virtues rare shall eternalize”. Evidently, Shakespeare believes that as history writes itself, he and his subject’s love will become one with time because “when in et...
Shakespeare’s sonnets include love, the danger of lust and love, difference between real beauty and clichéd beauty, the significance of time, life and death and other natural symbols such as, star, weather and so on. Among the sonnets, I found two sonnets are more interesting that show Shakespeare’s love for his addressee. The first sonnet is about the handsome young man, where William Shakespeare elucidated about his boundless love for him and that is sonnet 116. The poem explains about the lovers who have come to each other freely and entered into a relationship based on trust and understanding. The first four lines reveal the poet’s love towards his lover that is constant and strong and will not change if there any alternation comes. Next four lines explain about his love which is not breakable or shaken by the storm and that love can guide others as an example of true love but that extent of love cannot be measured or calculated. The remaining lines of the third quatrain refer the natural love which can’t be affected by anything throughout the time (it can also mean to death). In the last couplet, if
Shakespeare's sonnets are a romantic and charming series of poems. His use of rhyme and passionate, eloquent language serve to illuminate his strong feelings. These techniques were probably the most fluent way for such a writer as him to express the immeasurable love that he obviously felt for his mysterious lady. Examining the numerous ways Shakespeare found to describe it, the reader believes that this love was undoubtedly lasting and authentic. He often made heart-felt comments about his emotions that could also suit lovers in the present day. Because of this, and the fact that people read them yet, Shakespeare's sonnets are timeless and universal, just like the concept of love itself.