Known as one of the most influential and important English Renaissance authors, William Shakespeare paved the path for sonnet writers and modern poets. Shakespeare is the author of 37 plays and 154 sonnets. Each sonnet deals with personal themes and can work collectively as a story or individually. The first 126 of the sonnets are addressed to a young nobleman, while the rest are addressed to a woman known as the ‘dark lady’. In Sonnet 27, the narrator has returned from a long journey, tired, but unable to sleep, because he is plagued with thoughts about his relationship and visions of the subject. Although there is much mystery surrounding Shakespeare’s sonnets, through figurative language, historical context, and collective comparison, it becomes clear that Shakespeare is having an internal conflict between his physical wants and his emotional needs. The figurative language reinforces the internal conflict through comparison of meanings and word pairings. Certain words can be a more thoughtful and descriptive explanation in place or the average terms used. In lines 5 and 6, Shakespeare states, “For then my thoughts (from far where I abide) / Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee.” Pilgrimages are serious and extensive travels used to show loyalty and devotion to a religion or a god and would hold more importance than simply calling the trip a journey. The comparison of his thoughts to a “zealous pilgrimage” (Ln. 6) suggests the idea that his thoughts are a strenuous mental journey equal to a long physical journey with an emotional attachment. This comparison introduces the reader to the struggle and significance of his emotional need for the subject of his thoughts and his physical want to rest. The emotional and physical conflic... ... middle of paper ... ...s work’s expired” (Ln. 4).The earlier sonnets are an introduction to the struggle and as the sonnets continue, the speakers feelings about each side of the argument is explained more clearly and with experience. Therefore, through a collective comparison, Shakespeare’s internal conflict becomes more apparent in the earlier mentioned Sonnet 27. Shakespeare’s sonnets are some the most widely analyzed and debated works in Western Literature. Taking a poem at face value with a literal interpretation can belittle the work, so including an exploration of figurative language and multiple definitions will bring about new observations and analyses. Also, if only analyzed as a single piece of literature certain arguments will become invalid, however when all of the sonnets are analyzed as en entity, there will be a wider range of support for what was once an unsound analysis.
In “Sonnet,” Billy Collins satirizes the classical sonnet’s volume to illustrate love in only “…fourteen lines…” (1). Collins’s poem subsists as a “Sonnet,” though there exists many differences in it countering the customarily conventional structure of a sonnet. Like Collins’s “Sonnet,” Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” also faces incongruities from the classic sonnet form as he satirizes the concept of ideal beauty that was largely a convention of writings and art during the Elizabethan era. Although these poem venture through different techniques to appear individually different from the classic sonnet, the theme of love makes the poems analogous.
Never to go unnoticed, the name William Shakespeare describes an experienced actor, an exceptional playwright, and a notable philosopher. As one of the most influential men of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Shakespeare impacted many artists with his riveting masterpieces. Shakespeare captured the attention of the people through his exquisite work in blank verse, and he inspired them with universal truths of the human condition. His sonnet sequence, consisting of 154 poems, is arguably the finest collection of love poems in the English language. Shakespeare continuously impressed his audience with his explorations of life’s complexities. Such an intricate man; however, he never wrote about himself. He would not discuss his composition methods and only through careful analysis could one understand the underlying truths to his work. Shakespeare was often known to use plots from other sources and enrich them to masterpieces with his genuine knowledge of literature. Although he completed many poems in his lifetime, each one of them was rich in quality and very complex in structure. The play, Macbeth, reveals the uniform structure of a typical Elizabethan tragedy with five acts that carefully reflect the pyramid organization of an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and a denouement.
The imposition of the British aggressor is even made apparent through the structure of the work, the two sonnet form stanzas not only highlight the inadequacy of the loveless union, but with their Shakespearean rhyme scheme also imply the cultural dominance of English tradition. The use of half rhymes, such as ‘pulse’ and ‘burst’ or ‘pain’ and ‘within’ leaves the stanzas feel...
Sonnet 18 is considered to be the first of the group of 108 sonnets written about a young man, however one could easily presume that the person being talked about is a woman. Since there is no suggestion in this poem of a particular sex, the anonymous person will be addressed as Shakespeare’s “beloved.” In the first line of the poem, the author is asking or just wondering out loud if he should compared his love to a summer’s day. The second li...
William Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered to be some of the most beautiful poems in English literature. Although little is known about the poet, many seem to put their focus on Shakespeare’s inner life; wondering why he wrote the things he did. William Shakespeare is mostly known for his plays; however, he did accomplish a lot in poetry. William Shakespeare was powerful with his words, and knew how to express things in great depth. Why or who he wrote about is still a mystery. Scholars only know so much about his life, and are still trying to put the unknown pieces together.
To understand these two sonnets completely, one must first have a little background information concerning the sequence of the Sonnets and William Shakespeare's life. Shakespeare's series of Sonnets can be divided, "into two sections, the first (numbers 1-126) being written to or about a young man, and most of those in the second (numbers 127-154) being written to or about a dark woman" (Wilson 17-8). Because of the autobiographical nature of Shakespeare's Sonnets, these two characters are people from Shakespeare's actual life. The young man is Shakespeare's patron and Shakespeare has a "humble and selfless adoration [that] he feels for his young friend" (Wilson 32). The dark woman is Shakespeare's lover, a woman that infatuates him. These two people provide an emotional contrast for each other and Shakespeare's views on love. When these two meet, they have an affair, "behavior that, as the Poet [Shakespeare] is really deeply in love with the woman, causes him such distress, at times agony, as to introduce a note of tragedy into the series [of sonnets], . . ." (Wilson 33). The affair between the young man and the dark woman is the catalyst for Shakespeare's au...
Shakespeare, William, "Sonnet 42." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eds. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000. 1:1033.
A sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen lines, following one of several set of rhyme-schemes. Critics of the sonnet have recognized varying classifications, but the two characteristic sonnet types are the Italian type (Petrarchan) and the English type (Shakespearean). Shakespeare is still nowadays seen as in idol in English literature. No one can read one of his works and be left indifferent. His way of writing is truly fascinating. His sonnets, which are his most popular work, reflect several strong themes. Several arguments attempt to find the full content of those themes.
This Shakespearean sonnet consisting of 14 lines can be subdivided into 3 parts. In each part, the poet uses a different voice. He uses 1st person in the first part, 3rd person in the 2nd part and 2nd person in the last part. Each section of the poem has a different theme that contributes to the whole theme of the poem.
---. "Sonnet 130." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1. M. H. Abrams, ed. W. W. Norton (New York): 1993.
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.
Critics believe that the important parts of Shakespeare’s Sonnet are the Dark Lady. Davey states, “What is important here is that the Dark Lady experience seems to have been already passed and absorbed into the Poet 's inner world of hopes and disappointments, of his own understanding of what Love must be on an idealistic level, and what it has been with him on a practical level” (Davey). However, the Dark Lady is not the main character in “Sonnet 18.” It’s mainly about Shakespeare feelings for the man, his beauty and how he is sexually attracted to the man. Daniel Gil states, “It is in relation to the Young Man that Shakespeare experiences the kind of asocial sexuality” (Gil). This provides evidence that Shakespeare wrote this sonnet to prove his overall love and the beauty of mankind. For example, in line, 6, “And often is his gold complexion dimm 'd” (Shakespeare 6). Many may think it shows how Shakespeare is comparing the summer’s sun colors to a man’s complexion. One critic thinks that this line may be talking about an older woman. “The sonnets of Shakespeare, taken as a whole, may be said to form a sonnet sequence: a series of sonnets, usually addressed to a woman for whom the poet has conceived a passion” (Lord). However, some critics may be confused by the author’s problem and what Shakespeare was trying to convince the audience. Shakespeare was stating the beauty
This sonnet rhymed abab cdcd efef gg form. Most of his sonnets were written in the 1590s at the height of the vogue, but they were not published until 1609. The first 126 are addressed to a young man; the remainder (with the exception of the last two, which are conventional sonnets on Cupid) are addressed to an unknown "Dark Lady." Whether or not Shakespeare laid bare his heart in his sonnets, as many critics have contended, they are his most personal poems.
William Shakespeare, the immortal Poet and Dramatist, is considered to be the greatest English dramatist and poet. His writings include plays, comedies, historical plays, and tragedies and some numerous sonnets. He wrote one hundred fifty four sonnets during 13th to 14th century, which mostly discussed about his love towards the “Handsome Young Man” and “The Dark Lady”. Shakespeare addressed from sonnet 1- 126 about an unidentified young man with outstanding physical and intellectual attributes. And from sonnets 127-154, Shakespeare devoted most of his attention to addressing a mysterious "dark lady" who explained as a sensuous, irresistible woman and beautiful
The fourteen line sonnet is constructed by three quatrains and one couplet. With the organization of the poem, Shakespeare accomplishes to work out a different idea in each of the three quatrains as he writes the sonnet to lend itself naturally. Each of the quatrain contains a pair of images that create one universal idea in the quatrain. The poem is written in a iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Giving the poem a smooth rhyming transition from stanza to