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Critical analysis of the poem sonnet by William Shakespeare
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A Summer Love
William Shakespeare wrote about many people, places, and things throughout his life. What he might be most remembered for are his writings about love. None might be better than his sonnet 18. Shakespeare uses imagery, personification, unusual techniques and remarkable feelings in this declaration. Few have matched such a task including himself. This short sonnet number 18 is one of the best known and most loved of all 154 poems. Mabillard states that “It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent” (Mabillard).
Shakespeare starts the sonnet by the praise of his lady friend without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his lady friend into that of a perfect being. Shakespeare illustrates that as history writes itself down in the books, his friend or loved lady, will become one with time. The poet's hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on. Shakespeare uses a vast amount of imagery in his sonnet. Each line adds to his feeling and thoughts through flowing visions and comparisons. “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, / And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” (Kennedy and Gioia). This line down plays summer and shows the negatives of the season. Shakespeare gives the fact sharp winds attack what beautiful flowers the ground and trees put out in the spring. This asks the question; if summer is so nice and perfect, how could it do this to something so lovely as the small buds on a tree or a flower? The next line suggests summer is short and ends far to quickly for most people’s liking. Shakespeare’s love could never end like summer does. He knows there is no limit such as time to his feelings and thoughts.
Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare combines personification and imagery to add to the effect on the mind’s eye and its view of his love. “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, / And often is his gold complexion dimmed” (Kennedy and Gioia) are two lines which show this perfectly. Ray says that “Complexion in line 6 refers only to physical appearance in the face and that it points to the face of the personified sun” (Ray). Shakespeare puts down the sun which is often a favorite part of most people during summer. He also states “Shakespeare certainly also assumes the other meaning of ‘complexion’ most c...
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...akespeare indented them. Therefore, they stand out and are very prominent. Being at the end of the sonnet was not enough for Shakespeare final emphasis. He had to thrust them out of the page at all who can see. This shows he is completely and utterly serious about his love if the other lines did not prove it. A strong beginning and ending just like his love.
This sonnet is the prototype for one’s feelings on love. Though it is not for sure who Shakespeare is writing to, one thing is certain: his love is everlasting and beautiful. He describes his feelings almost as well as he feels them and gives the same feelings to the audience. He outdid himself with his work and few things can match his words and heart he put into this sonnet.
Works Cited
Kennedy X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction. 9th ed. New York: Longman, 2005. pg 815-816.
Ray, Robert H. "Shakespeare's Sonnet 18." The Explicator. Washington:
Fall 1994. Vol. 53, Iss. 1, p 10-11.
Mabillard, Amanda. "An Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18". Shakespeare Online. 2000. June 26, 2005. .
Salisbury, Harrison E., and Jean-Claude Suarès. China: 100 Years of Revolution. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1983. Print.
Shakespeare's use of metaphors in this sonnet conveys his theme of the inescapable aging process. Shakespeare "establishes and extends a metaphor that illuminates the poem's central meaning" and compares the inevitability of old age to three different aspects of nature (Prather). Similarly all the metaphorical quatrains begin with either the phrase "thou mayest in me behold" or "In me thou seest" (Shakespeare 1-5). These phrases reveal the author's awareness of the natural process occurring within his body and he compares this aging process to the three natural occurrences of nature including the seasonal change to autumn, a sunset, and a slowly perishing fire.
Shakespearean sonnets contain three quatrains and a couplet with a strict rhyme scheme. The quatrains alternate in rhyme (ABAB CDCD EFEF) and end with rhyming couplet. The entire fourteen lines are written in iambic pentameter – which consist of five iambic feet. Iambic feet contain an unstressed syllable followed stressed syllable. Furthermore each quatrain introduces or expands upon an idea. As demonstrated in Sonnet 147 that focuses around comparing his love to a disease each quatrain advances this point. The first quatrain depicts the disease itself and his vulnerability to it:
Garrison, R. H., Noreen, E. W., & Brewer, P. c. (2010). Managerial Accounting. New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.
Budgeting is an essential process for all businesses. By using the company’s current financial data as well as its historical data, a business should be able to forecast and plan a budget for the company’s future. A budget is defined as “a statement of monetary plans that is prepared in advance of a forthcoming period, usually one year” (Brookson 2000). This budget should align with the company’s strategic and operational plans and is the tactical implementation of the company’s business plan. Since the company’s budget is controlled by all levels of the company’s management, the company budget is usually an aggregate compilation of the departmental budgets. Budgets are used to help establish a company’s sales forecast, product pricing, as well as assist in investment planning. Budgets are also used by management for motivation and performance evaluation. A manager’s performance evaluation will usually relate to their contracted compensation plan and will be paid as a bonus in addition to their salary. These incentives are usually based on a percentage of meeting or exceeding budgeted or targeted goals which are established and controlled by management. Because of management’s control of the numbers, budgets and targeted goals are easily manipulated in order to increase the manager’s compensation. When this process occurs, it is known as “gaming” the system.
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.
In most of the sonnets from around Shakespeare's era, love is a common theme. Written is a standard Shakespearean form, the rhyme scheme nor the meter deviate from the typical sonnet structure; although the form does not differ much, the central meaning and approach to love does. While the majority of sonnets speak of love for someone else, in sonnet 116 Shakespeare describes the truth of love between a couple. In 'Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds' Shakespeare utilizes legal terms to support their right to marriage and backs up his argument by employing solid metaphors regarding their love. In doing so, he allows the reader to be the judge, jury, and executioner and decide the fate of the couple in the poem.
Another important aspect to modern leadership theory is the concept of resonant leadership. A leader who practices resonant leadership inspires others by creating a work environment that supports and fosters innovation and change (Boomer, 2013, p. 24). These leaders are able to be honest and sincere while also holding the team accountable to the standards and the goals of the organization. Often times, this type of leader works with their team to find individual strengths that can be used to optimize performance. A leader who practices resonant leadership is also able to bui...
This poetic device frequently allowed readers to form mental images of the meanings Shakespeare was trying to imply. A major component that illustrates Shakespeare 's use of symbolism is the summer season. Throughout the sonnet, summer is recognized to be a vibrant, lovely and youthful season; but has multiple flaws, as it is not everlasting. Although the season portrays both good and bad qualities, Shakespeare utilizes the positive attributes to symbolize the beauty of the beloved. An example from the poem is, "By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d /But thy eternal summer shall not fade /Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest" (Shakespeare, 8-10). In this section, Shakespeare explains the disappointments of summer where it will eventually pass and fade away. He also symbolizes the aspects of "eternal summer" to the beloved 's perfect nature. This symbolism supports Shakespeare 's argument of the nameless person 's beauty where it is like the summer season; however, in contrast, it is forever undying and lives on in this poem. Another example of symbolism is, "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, /So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." (Shakespeare, 13-14). In this example, Shakespeare uses the word "this" to symbolize "Sonnet 18" where he wishes for the beloved 's beauty to never fade, like this poem that is
Shakespeare writes in the first line of “Sonnet 18”, “Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day”, setting the tone for the sonnet, explaining that the beloved’s beauty is comparable to a summer’s day. The speaker then goes on to explain that summer is not as fabulous as it seems, the winds shake the buds that emerged in spring, that summer ends too quickly, and the sun can get too hot or can be covered by clouds. The speaker says that everything beautiful eventually fades by chance or by nature’s changes (Shmoop Editorial Team). The last 6 lines of this sonnet declare that his summer will never fade, death will never be able to take the beloved from him as their love lives inside the lines of this
At the time of its writing, Shakespeare's one hundred thirtieth sonnet, a highly candid, simple work, introduced a new era of poems. Shakespeare's expression of love was far different from traditional sonnets in the early 1600s, in which poets highly praised their loved ones with sweet words. Instead, Shakespeare satirizes the tradition of comparing one's beloved to the beauties of the sun. From its opening phrase "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun", shocks the audience because it does not portray a soft, beautiful woman. Despite the negative connotations of his mistress, Shakespeare speaks a true woman and true love. The sonnet is a "how-to" guide to love.
“Budgetary control is part of overall organisation control and is concerned primarily with the control of performance. The use of budgetary control in performance management has of late taken on greater importance especially as a more integrative control mechanism for the organisation”. Critically evaluate this claim, supporting your discussion with both theoretical arguments and practical example.
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...
Hargreaves, G. (1998). Stress management: the essential guide to thinking and working smarter. New York: Amacon.
The ritual of courtly love had rigid codes of conduct associated with it. Shakespeare took his writing to new levels by subtly defying the codes of conduct and relating courtly love to relationships between both two men and a man and a woman. Shakespeare addresses his first 126 sonnets to the same fair man. Sonnet 18, by far one of the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets, was written to illustrate his love and adoration for the man. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?