Sonnets is a type of poetry that originated in Italy. There are many different types of sonnets, such as the Shakespearean sonnet, Petrarchan sonnet, and the Spenserian sonnet. Despite their differences, these sonnets share some similarities. “Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay and “In an Artist’s Studio” by Christina Rossetti share many similarities and differences such as the form, the portrayal of women, and the way the woman is objectified. McKay’s poem, “Harlem Dancer” is a sonnet, as well as Rossetti’s poem, “In an Artist’s Studio”. Both McKay and Rossetti’s sonnets follow an identical structure, containing fourteen lines, and a rhyming couplet. “Harlem Dancer” and “In an Artist’s Studio” are both sonnets and contain rhyme schemes; however, …show more content…
In Rossetti’s poem “In an Artist’s Studio”, she illustrates a man in the art studio surrounded around his canvases. On each of his canvases, he has painted the same woman in different positions, as depicted in, “One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans” (Rossetti 104). This man continuously paints the same women, each time depicting her differently as demonstrated, “A saint, and angel…” (Rossetti 104). Similarly, in McKay’s poem he illustrates for the readers, a dark skinned, half clothed woman dancing. Both of these poems focus on how men view women, and how men idealize women for their beauty, or some other desirable part of them. Both of these poets express that men do not appreciate the wholeness and complexity of both of these women. McKay’s idealized woman is also a woman of colour, which may lead into a discussion of race gender, and sexuality. In Rossetti’s poem, the artist “feeds upon” (Rossetti 104) the object of his affection, “not as she is, but as she fills his dreams” (Rossetti 104). Also, McKay’s narrator idealizes her physical beauty and describes how everyone “devoured” her beauty, even though “her self was not in that strange place” (McKay 18). The main difference is that McKay’s narrator sees his desired woman as having “grown lovelier for passing through a storm” (McKay 18), whereas Rossetti’s artist uses his art to wash away the pain-and by extension, the …show more content…
McKay’s uses the art of dance and fashion to allure the men and women. He chose to have the woman dancing sensually and half clothed, to capture everyone’s attention. By having the woman portrayed this way, it signifies her worth. Similarly, Rossetti uses art to objectify women, however, she uses the art of painting and fashion as well. “In an Artist’s Studio”, he objectifies the woman by painting her the way he sees her, not the way she actually is; In doing this, it is symbolizing that woman are controlled. McKay’s Shakespearean sonnet, and Rossetti’s Petrarchan sonnet share many similarities and differences. McKay and Rossetti’s poems are both sonnets, however, the type of sonnets categorize the two poems differently. Portrayal of women in the two sonnets are similar, however, McKay treats the woman more humanely than Rossetti. The objectification of woman is done through the form of art, but both poets chose to use different forms of
In his poem Harlem Dancer (698), McKay’s meticulous use of description allows the reader to view the subject from different perspectives, and then to know her in a way that she could not be understood in a simple two-dimensional style. He carefully and deliberately included the use of subtle but flattering A-B-A-B rhyme schemes to promote flow, and to add an overall tone which evokes a palate of feelings with which to paint the picture. Although rich in depth, his words are not especially complex. As it is, neither were the people he was writing for, or about. With the majority of his intended audience being poverty stricken and under-educated, overreaching vocabulary would fall on deaf ears. Elaborate wording would likely feel unauthentic, almost prosthetic. McKay was no doubt a scholar and brilliant writer, adept in the art of seeing people, and translating them beautifully to the
...as been viewed in the light of the knowledge of her personal history, as if the rape and trial were the defining events of her life story. Instead, she showed the fortitude to not only break past the restrictive bonds of what was acceptable “feminine” artwork, but to excel in producing paintings that were worthy of the masters, on the same playing field as any of male artist of her time. Artemisia Gentileschi was not an artist only intent on giving visual expression to her personal experiences and feelings, but a businesswoman trying to please her patrons and thus be successful in her field.
Compare William Shakespeare’s Sonnets 12 and 73 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote a group of 154 sonnets between 1592 and 1597, which were compiled and published under the title 'Shakespeare's Sonnets' in 1609. The 154 poems are divided into two groups, a larger set, consisting of sonnets 1-126 which are addressed by the poet to a dear young man, the smaller group of sonnets 127-154 address another persona, a 'dark lady'. The larger set of sonnets display a deliberate sequence, a sonnet cycle akin to that used a decade earlier by the English poet Phillip Sidney (1554-1586) in 'Astrophel and Stella'. The themes of love and infidelity are dominant in both sets of poems, in the larger grouping; these themes are interwoven with symbols of beauty, immortality, and the ravages of time. Lyrical speculations of poetry's power to maintain bonds of love and to revere the beloved can also be found in the larger collection of sonnets.
As far as structure goes, Shakespeare’s sonnet and my own are very similar. My 14-line sonnet is written in Iambic Pentameter and follows the abab-cdcd-efef-gg rhyme scheme within three quatrains and a couplet, as does that of Shakespeare. For this reason, my poem follows a meter very close to Sonnet 87. This is also due to the fact that both sonnets contain 10 syllables per line, as well as an eleventh in most lines that derives from weak, or "feminine" verb endings such as "keeping" in the first line of my poem, and "possessing" in that of Shakespeare. Thus, the finality residing in the 10 syllable lines that use masculine endings is accounted for. In addition, my sonnet mirrors Sonnet 87 by starting with "farewell" and ending with Shakespeare’s couplet modified, and one can see his influence in the third quatrain of my poem, which echoes back the last 4 lines of Sonnet 87’s third quatrain. In this way, I was able to mimic most of Shakespeare’s structure while inserting phrases of my own.
Wordsworth shows the possibility of finding freedom within his poem by choosing to write within the Italian sonnet’s rules. What makes an Italian sonnet unique is the division and pattern of its rhyme scheme. It is usually structured in an ABBA, ABBA, CDE, CDE pattern, and broken into two main parts, the octave (the first eight lines) and the sestet (the final six). The meter of “Nuns” can be labeled as iambic pentameter, yet along with the meter, the poem differs from the norm in two more ways. The first difference is in the rhyme scheme. In a typical Italian sonnet, the sestet follows a CDE, CDE pattern, in “Nuns” however, it follows the pattern CDD, CCD. It’s minute, but adds emphases to the 13th line, which contains the poem’s second anomaly. All the poem’s lines have an ...
Both Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barret Browning and Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare delve into the passion of fervent love. In many ways these two sonnets can be compared and contrasted based upon poetic devices such as word choice, figurative language, and imagery.
Claude McKay's poem "The Harlem Dancer" displays his idea of community and racial love by depicting the objectification of a singing and dancing African American woman during Harlem Renaissance. In his Shakespearean sonnet, his use of a blazon starting with the bottom of her body serves as an inlet into the audience's point of view and allows the reader to become a participant in her objectification. In starting the blazon at the bottom of the woman's body, the reader doesn't understand that the poem isn't meant to sexualize her body until we reach the Volta which serves to show a disconnect between his communal love for her and the readers and audiences sexualized objectification of her. In the beginning imagery of the poem it seems as though
The gestural and heavy working of the paint and the contrasting colors make the painting appear active yet are arduous to follow. The defining element of Woman and Bicycle is the presence of the black lines that do most of the work in terms of identifying the figure. Through the wild nature of the brushwork, color, and composition of the painting, it can be implied that the artist is making an implication towards the wild nature of even the most proper of women.
...nnet contain enough original elements for them to be considered poems in their own right. Since Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to the English language, it is understandable that he met various shortcomings in terms of the sonnet’s form, rhythm and rhyme scheme. Surrey, on the other hand, exhibits iambic pentameter, a clean rhyme scheme and a successful transposition into the English sonnet form. Nevertheless, what Surrey attains from this could be considered futile due to all the simplifications from Petrarch’s original that could obscure the meaning of the poem. Here is where Wyatt seems to excel, for he not only successfully reincarnates Petrarch’s intentions, but he also exceeds them in some instances. For this reason, it can be said that Wyatt gives the best translation, although there are undoubtedly many who would prefer Surrey’s as a stand-alone poem.
A sonnet is a fixed patterned poem that expresses a single, complete thought or idea. Sonnet comes from the Italian word “sonetto”, which means “little song”. Poem, on the other hand, is English writing that has figurative language, and written in separate lines that usually have a repeated rhyme, but don’t all the time. The main and interesting thing is that these two poems or sonnets admire and compare the beauty of a specific woman, with tone, repetition, imagery, and sense of sound.
The sonnets are similar in that the subject who which Shakespeare is writing is very dear to him. The most over looked difference, however, is who the subject actually is.
Sonnet 18 and 130 are pretty similar in that they start off their poem describing something negative then move to show the true beauty of the person they are talking about by using contrast. However, sonnet 18 uses contrast of a girl and a summer’s day so he only points out the good in the girl. In sonnet 130, the persona speaks of the negatives of the girl and the positives as a way of contrast. Sonnet 1 is different from the others in that it is used as a message of criticism. However, it still praises the beauty of the person the persona is describing like sonnet 18 and 130. Finally, sonnet 116 is the most different
Bender, Robert M., and Charles L. Squier, eds. The Sonnet: An Anthology. New York: Washington Square P, 1987.
In conclusion, Shakespeare is more effective with using figurative language and imagery in his sonnet. This is mainly because he personifies the sun in a way that acknowledges how essential the sun is to a summer’s day. Both poems by Shakespeare and Browning are virtually about the same topic. In addition, both of these poems also address the unknown person as “thee”. Moreover, a question of uncertainty is at the beginning of each poem as well. The theme of the two poems are pertaining to eternal love, exceeding death and only becoming stronger.
Both sonnets are designed to solve a paradox. Shakespeare develops a paradox in the quatrain stanzas, which he resolves in the couplet. He paints the picture of an unlovable woman who he calls his mistress, but in the couplet, he accepts her as she is, and even describes her as a rare gem (Shakespeare 38). On the other hand, the Petrarch’s paradox is in the resolution.