Methods of Expressing Main Concepts in William Shakespeares Sonnet 30
Shakespeare was superb at putting words together and has written
numerous sonnets over the years. Though 'sonnet 30' clearly stands out as its theme is presented in such a subtle and unique way. Therefore the question is: How does the poet express this leading idea?
To detect the leading idea in Shakespeare's sonnet, one should not solely read between the lines. One should in fact pay very close attention to its vocabulary, particularly to recurrent words such as 'grieve' , 'woe' (ll. 7) and 'moan' (ll. 8). If one is to combine them with other recurrent words such as 'friends' (ll. 6) and 'pay' (ll. 12), you will find that they will simply present part of the substantial theme. The unmistakable image these recurrent words create by placing them together in a meaningful unit is that of a speaker who ends up paying for having friends by grieving over them.
However, the theme is expanded and stretched by Shakespeare's profuse use of metaphors, one of them being 'hid in death's dateless night' (ll. 6). On the whole, this indicates the speaker's grief is inflicted by the death of these friends. Moreover, Shakespeare utilizes the technique of alliteration to effectively reinforce the speaker's loud display of grief: 'grieve at grievances' (ll. 9), 'woe to woe' (ll. 10), 'fore-bemoaned moan' (ll. 11) and 'pay as if not paid' (ll. 12).
The sonnet's division provides the theme with its final component. It is a Shakespearean sonnet, meaning it is composed of 3 quatrains and an ending couplet. The three quatrains give an account of a speaker who is not merely grieving, but, furthermore, cannot deal with the fact the grieving will not come to a stop: 'The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan / Which I new pay as if not paid before' (ll. 11-12). Nevertheless the ending couplet gives an unexpected twist to the sonnet. The speaker introduces yet another friend: 'But if the while I think on thee, dear friend / All losses are restored and sorrows end' (ll. 13-14). These lines make a somewhat indirect reference to the fact that the loss of a friend should not frighten one in not wanting to experience the joy of the possibility of a new friendship, as it is precisely such a companionship which can make one's sorrows come to an end. By means of this final couplet Shakespeare has at length revealed the entire theme.
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...
"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.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet #23 is addressed to the lovely young man, called WH. The speaker is trying to convey his complex feeling towards his lover. He is tongue-tied in the young man’s company and he is trying to explain this awkwardness and express his complex emotions in this sonnet. It is, the speaker says, due to the hugeness of his love, that makes it too heavy to carry. For the author this sonnet is a silent representation of his inner voice. To show the complexity of the situation, he compares poet’s role as a lover to an actor’s timidity onstage. He asks WH to read these silent lines and explains that love will give him the insight to read between lines. The sonnet consists of 14 lines, which are splitted into octave and a sestet, and has typical for Shakespeare’s sonnets rhyme scheme: a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. He uses first two quatrains to establish a problem and then resolves it in a third quatrain, summarizing solution in the following couplet.
...ays him. He tricks himself into believing that he and his friend are such kindred spirits that they are truly one in mind, body and spirit, when in fact, they are not. The final line of the sonnet begins with an initial spondee, "Sweet flattery" (14) in which Shakespeare himself is admitting how sweet delusion really is, and ends in a terminal spondee, "me alone" (14) showing that the young man and Shakespeare were really never more than acquaintances that loved the same woman.] Through a figment of his imagination, he developed a mythical relationship with the young man when in fact, the only really loving relationship he had was with his own pretentious subconscious.
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).
...e speaker admits she is worried and confused when she says, “The sonnet is the story of a woman’s struggle to make choices regarding love.” (14) Her mind is disturbed from the trials of love.
has the gentle heart of a woman but is not inconsistent as is the way
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 39 features a narrator who is speaking about his loved one or soulmate. Within the poem, the narrator is attempting come to terms with a possible separation from his loved one, or other half. Initially, the narrator seems to be accepting of the separation, however the sonnet takes a turn about half way through, after which the narrator tries to grapple with the idea of filling his alone time.
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.
William Shakespeare was an excellent writer, who throughout his life created well written pieces of literatures which are valued and learned about in modern times. One of his many works are 154 Sonnets, within these Sonnets there are several people Shakespeare “writes to”, such as fair youth, dark lady and rival poet. Sonnet 20 is written to fair youth, or in other words a young man. The idea of homosexuality appears in Sonnet 20 after the speaker admits his love towards the young man.
Just when the reader thinks all hope is lost, Shakespeare comes back with a ray of sunshine in the closing couplet that restores our hope. " As he takes from you, I engraft you new." Here he is saying that as time takes away from us he promises that he will replenish our youth and make it immortal. Also, along with the structure of this poem is the rhyming scheme. The rhyme scheme for this particular sonnet, along with many others of Shakespeare's sonnets, is abab cdcd efef gg.
Overall the images representing the speakers past give the idea that its not easy for the speaker to face his destiny alone. The fourteen line sonnet is constructed of three quatrains and one couplet. With the organization of the poem, Shakespeare works 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.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) lived in a time of religious turbulence. During the Renaissance people began to move away from the Church. Authors began to focus on the morals of the individual and on less lofty ideals than those of the Middle Ages. Shakespeare wrote one-hundred fifty-four sonnets during his lifetime. Within these sonnets he largely explored romantic love, not the love of God. In Sonnet 29 Shakespeare uses specific word choice and rhyme to show the reader that it is easy to be hopeful when life is going well, but love is always there, for rich and poor alike, even when religion fails.
The majority of Elizabethan sonnets reflect two major themes: time and love. William Shakespeare, too, followed this convention, producing 154 sonnets, many of which deal with the usual theme of love. Because the concept of love is in itself so immense, Shakespeare found several ways to capture the essence of his passion. Therefore, in his poetry he explored various methods and used them to describe the emotions associated with his love for a mysterious "dark lady." These various ideas and views resulted in a series of sonnets that vibrantly depicts his feelings of true, undying love for his lady. Instead of making the topic less interesting, as some might expect, Shakespeare's myriad approaches serve to further the reader's knowledge about the sheer power of true love. Three of Shakespeare's methods that show his ability in this respect are the motif of dreams and thoughts, the examples of the extent of love, and Shakespeare's desire for his sonnets to aid or glorify their love.