Analysis of Sonnet 5
Those hours that with gentle work did frame
The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell
Will play the tyrants to the very same,
And that unfair which fairly doth excel:
For never-resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter and confounds him there,
Sap check'd with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o'ersnow'd and bareness everywhere:
Then were not summer's distillation left
A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor ir nor no remembrance what it was.
But flowers distill'd, though they with winter meet,
Leese but their show: their substance still lives sweet.
This sonnet is fairly easy to read and understand, but there are a few subtle ways Shakespeare makes it more interesting. First, the "which" in line 4 seems to mean "that", but a pun arises when read aloud allowing "witch" to be replaced. This is definitley an option when referring to "Those hours," significant of time, as seeing time as a witch. Shakespeare does not hold time in such high regard, and therefore we get a slightly altered reading of line 4: 'and that unfair witch hastens your increasing age by fair means'. In this reading, time is both fair and unfair, much recieved as a child getting his deserved punishment. 5-6: '"Never-resting time" always forces summer into winter, where summer is unhappily detained'; 7-8: 'Where,the sap is encroached with frost, and the leaves of the tree have vanished, beauty being overly-covered and barren everywhere:'. 9-12: 'At that time summer was remembered through perfumes, (but) beauty's effect [the scent] was subsided through the perfumes [the scent is there, but the aesthetics are gone], and there was no remembrance what it really was'.
Approximately 24% of 12-17 year olds have considered suicide and up to 10% have attempted suicide.” (Suicide Intervention Training PG 3). Teens today are very likely to commit suicide for various reasons. In today’s society there are a lot of judging and bullying cases around the world. No matter how much we promote a bully free zone there will always be a couple of cliques, or individuals, who want to bring others down and who do not know the seriousness of bullying. Although bullying is a big cause of suicide, the leading cause is a mental illness that many people are familiar with called depression. “Psychiatric disorders can affect diverse aspects of an individual’s life.”( Dispelling Myth Surrounding Teen Suicide, PG 1). If you or someone you know seems down most of the time, the best thing to do is to go see someone about your despair. If you are diagnosed with depression, prescribed depression medicine can help and can be one way to prevent suicidal thoughts or actions. “There is a lot of evidence that suicide is preventable.”(Cont. Principles of Suicide Prevention, PG
A 17 year old boy, Douglas Stewart, came home from school to find his mother lying on the sofa with a strained back. Being concerned for her he rubbed her back briefly then put on some easy listening music. Douglas then proceeded downstairs to his bedroom. Two of his friends came to the door. His mother waited to see if he would return to answer it; minutes later she answered and then yelled for him to come up. When he did not come, she went downstairs to get him. That is when she found him strangled and her son’s body dangling from the ceiling. This is a senseless tragic sight for a mother to endure. The mortality rate from suicide in 1996 showed 9.5 per 100,000 for 15-19 year olds. This also shows boys are four times more likely to commit suicide then girls. However, girls are twice as likely to attempt suicide. (American 1996) It is imperative to reverse this trend and in doing so we need to understand the characteristics, behaviors and events associated with youth suicide.
The conceit, characterization and tone of the one hundred and forty third sonnet make this particular sonnet interesting to analyze. The collection of sonnets was written by William Shakespeare around the mid-1590s and published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609. “Sonnet 143” describes a woman who "sets down her babe and makes all swift dispatch." Her attention has been restrained by the idea of taking possession of a feathered creature that has run away (line 3). In this sonnet, Shakespeare creates a rivalry of role-play between a man in pursuit of a woman, who is compared to a housewife and a mother, and the love interest the woman in pursuing. The speaker is in desperate pursuit of the housewife, like a child who wishes to be pacified and kissed
Depression is often associated with suicide, but the problem can usually be prevented with proper treatment such as counseling or anti-depressants. About five to ten percent of teens at some time in their life suffer from depression, and if not treated properly, depression can lead to suicide in almost fifteen percent of those troubled teens('The Demon Called Depression,';pg.12). Depression is the typical trigger for most suicide attempts. For example, in the novel Who Killed Christopher? by Irina Korschunow, a boy named Christopher suffered from depression for a while but no one ever figured it out until he roe in front of a car and committed suicide. Many factors can contribute to depression and eventually suicide. The first one would be negative thoughts and actions such as low self-esteem, perfectionism, substance abuse, heavy drinking, and eating disorders. If a teenager experiences any one of those problems that most likely means he or she will eventually suffer from depression. External and personal pressures may also be a contribution to depression. These include abuse, parental divorce, girlfriend/boyfriend breakups, pregnancy, loss of a loves one, and conflicts between parents. Those pressures on teens are the ones most closely related to suicide('The Demon Called Depression,';pg.12)
The sonnet opens with a seemingly joyous and innocent tribute to the young friend who is vital to the poet's emotional well being. However, the poet quickly establishes the negative aspect of his dependence on his beloved, and the complimentary metaphor that the friend is food for his soul decays into ugly imagery of the poet alternating between starving and gorging himself on that food. The poet is disgusted and frightened by his dependence on the young friend. He is consumed by guilt over his passion. Words with implicit sexual meanings permeate the sonnet -- "enjoyer", "treasure", "pursuing", "possessing", "had" -- as do allusions to five of the seven "deadly" sins -- avarice (4), gluttony (9, 14), pride (5), lust (12), and envy (6).
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.
Teenage suicide is the third leading cause of death among people of the age fifteen to twenty four (Caruso). For something that is preventable at all costs that is a high ranking. It is a public concern because it could happen to anyone. If it does happen to someone, all the people around him or her can be negatively affected. Most people are uncomfortable with the topic of suicide (Suicide Prevention). But it is a topic that needs to be known because it is increasing. Simple things like watching for warning signs or making sure there is open communication can save a loved ones life (Caruso). It should stay a public concern because it is something that can happen to anyone but can be stopped with no trouble.
More often than not, teenagers see suicide as the only resolution to their problems. A lot of young people deal with
The third leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages fifteen to twenty-four is suicide. An examination of suicide by sex indicates that in the United States, nearly five times more 15- to 19-year-old boys than girls committed suicide in 1998 (NCHS, 2000b). Firearms are the most common way of committing suicide; with hanging being the second most common. When a teen commits suicide it could be because they are suffering from depression, being bullied at school, or dealing with a lot of stress. These issues can be very serious to teens that are trying to get their lives together and everything just seems to be going wrong. They begin to feel like there is no way out, so they consider suicide, but they quickly dismiss it. Then things keep getting worse and worse until they think suicide is their only way out, therefore they end their life; leaving a wake of hurting behind for their family (Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior...
By being aware of the causes of teen suicide, one has the ability to prevent an occurrence from happening. Many of the factors that contribute to teen suicide are not new, but most people do not connect the effects that they can have on teens. The leading factors that contribute to suicide among teens include: psychological disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, physical or sexual abuse, poor relationships with family and peers, or sudden trauma (teen Suicide: Systematic Analysis of Quality). Psychological disorders tend to include depression and bipolar disorder. Depression is the most common of the two because a person usually looses interest in their favorite activities and feels as though they can no longer go on. Drug and alcohol abuse are also major causes of ...
Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare is widely read and studied. But what is Shakespeare trying to say? Though it seems there will not be a simple answer, for a better understanding of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, this essay offers an explication of the sonnet from The Norton Anthology of English Literature:
There are aspects that have been found to be “risk factors”, putting an adolescent at a higher risk for suicide (CDC, 2014). Some of these risk factors are: “history of previous suicide attempts, family history of suicide, history of depression or other mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse, stressful life event or loss, easy access to lethal methods, and incarceration” (CDC, 2014).
This sonnet appears to be another version of 153 rather than one of a series. These two sonnets, two renderings of the same ides, could either prove or disprove Shakespeare's authorship. Only twice did Shakespeare rewrite any of his sonnets, both 138 and 144 appear slightly modified in _The Passionate Pilgrim_. These are evidence of Shakespeare's rewritings, but the only problem is if one is out to prove the authorship on these grounds, over-revision remains a factor; that is, Shakespeare rewrote the two sonnets changing only a few words and not the entire sonnet. These seem to be the problems with citing Shakespeaare as their author, but equally disproving him as the author. If I were to argue for Shakespeare's authorship, I would correlate "the help of bath" with being an allusion to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_. Shakespeare used Chaucer as a source in _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ (from "The Kinght's Tale" and "The Miller's Tale"), _Troilus and Cressida_ (from _Troilus and Criseyde) and _The Two Noble Kinsmen_ (from "The Knight's Tale"). Seeing that Shakespeare used Chaucer as a reference in the past for help, I suppose "the help of bath" could be a tribut to Chaucer and thus a possible source or allusion. But this does remain on unsubstantial grounds due to the possibility of it simply meaning a water-filled basin.
The aftermath of suicide is devastating, and can be especially traumatic when a youth commits suicide. The issue of youth suicide is an important and sensitive subject that needs to be explored and uncovered. In this essay I will discuss the various reasons why youth (aged 15-24) choose to commit suicide, and what can be done in the future to aid in the prevention of suicide among youth. Suicide occurs as a result of a variety of reasons, some of which are: troubled relationships (family, friends, romantic), social isolation, gender issues, abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, verbal), or mental health problems. In this essay I will argue that suicide should, and can be, a preventable issue in the future, one that many people should be able to avoid if the correct steps are taken to assess and treat the suicidal person before the act is committed.
Suicidal tendencies in adolescents begin around the ages of 10 through 19, with warning signs, prevention, treatment, and the causes and effects it has on the human psyche. Suicide is when someone decides to take his or her own life because and are suffering from a painful mental treatable illness and have lost hope in who they are. Because when hope is lost, some feel like suicide is the only solution to truly make the adolescents pain go away permanently. Scientific evidence that shows the people who have committed suicide had a diagnosable treatable mental disorder or substance abuse disorder (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2010). Those people might have been suffering from illness such as depression, mood disorders, personality disorders and or suffering from bullying. Being a victim of bullying can be linked to suicidal thoughts as well as behavior in adolescents. Other causes might also include having family problems at home, problems at work, school and or with school peers. Suicide is a serious problem though it not only affects the victim, but it also affects family members, loved ones, along with friends.