Sonnets by William Shakespeare

familiar with famed writer William Shakespeare can easily list some of his most famous plays, such as the tragedies Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. Many casual readers do not recognize his sonnets, except for perhaps his eighteenth, which describes a lover who is compared to a beautiful summer day. The majority of his sonnets are fairly unknown to many people, so they miss the part of his writing that offers a more personal glance into his life and opinions. In his sonnets, Shakespeare masks himself behind an unknown, imaginary poet in order to communicate his personal beliefs on love, time, beauty, and competition. All 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets are categorized into multiple topics; the first and largest category pertains to…

One cannot study William Shakespeare’s work without noticing the way in which his sonnets manage to both subvert and conform to the conventions of Elizabethan love poetry. Shakespeare’s sonnets are striking for many reasons, be it the surprisingly realistic themes, the way he approaches each of his poems subjects of affection or the shocking he topics he discusses. His work stands out against those of his contemporaries as he transforms the rigid form of Elizabethan romance poetry by confounding…

A sonnet is a poem with a unique form, it has a specific structure. It is a type of poem which originated in italy. There are two types of sonnets, which are the Italian sonnet and the shakespearean sonnet. All sonnets are made up of 14 lines but each types are divided in different ways. An Italian sonnet is composed of an octet (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines), while a Shakespearean sonnet is composed of three quatrains (4 lines each) and a couplet (2 lines). In my paper I will be analyzing…

William Shakespeare is a man known for his amazing works in relation to theatre. Some of his most famous works and most discussed are Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. Not only did he create several plays that are still taught in the modern world, he created a few poems/sonnets that are also still highly acknowledged. A sonnet is a piece of literature that is only fourteen lines long. Many of the poets of Shakespeare’s time had their own rhyme scheme. Shakespeare also created his own personalized…

Created by Giacomo da Lentini, the sonnet is a poetic form originating in Italy and consisting of fourteen lines, and following a strict rhyming pattern. Additionally, a sonnet includes two parts: first the octave which asks a question or alludes to a problem, and then the sestet which provides a resolution to same (“Sonnet,” Wikipedia). William Shakespeare is one of the most widely known sonnet writers. Contemporaries of Shakespeare include: Sir Philip Sidney who penned sequences “Astrophel and…

Sonnet 130 Have you ever read a poem and did not understand it, even after reading it over and over again? Authors use things such as figurative language in order for you to have to think to figure out the poem is saying. Knowing what figurative language is may help you figure out the poem. Figurative language is “used with a meaning that is different from the basic meaning and that expresses an idea in an interesting way by using language that usually describes something else.” (Merriam…

cheated on to feel hurt, betrayed, and sometimes even furious at their partner. However in some cases when the one hurt feels true love for the one that cheated the relationship can endure. In both the poem, “Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth” by William Shakespeare and the song “Keep on Loving You” by REO Speedwagon, the narrator stays with his lover even after she lies and cheats because he feels true love for her. When your partner in dishonest it can sometimes end…

As Aristotle once said, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” I am writing about Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare. I picked this poem because of the images the speaker creates in the poem with the lighthouse, storms, boat, and youth. Personally, these images reflect exactly how love is and should be for everyone, and that is exactly what the speaker is trying to convey to the reader. In this essay, I will discuss each of these images, how they help define love and give my…

Sonnet 147 wrote by William Shakespeare is a love sonnet, or that is what it is perceived as in the beginning. This Sonnet is written from the perspective of a poet who expresses the love he holds for his mistress (and lover) as a sickness, and more specifically, as a fever. This sonnet has 14 lines, which are then broken up into 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet for the finish. There is a rhyming scheme in this sonnet, every second line rhyme, until the couple where they both rhyme to finish…

Shakespearean Sonnets and Modern Day Love Songs Shakespeare’s is a very well-known British poet, playwright, etc. that wrote a majority of the plays that we all read in school. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all with no name. All 154 sonnets were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe, most likely without Shakespeare’s consent. Speculation says that the first 126 sonnets are about a young man that he was in love with. The final 28 sonnets are about a promiscuous woman that is known as “The Dark…