Charlotte Smith’s Sonnet III, ‘To a Nightingale’ could be considered to be a mournfully romantic tale of a nightingale singing a song of such sadness that the poet begins to question the tragedy of the nightingale, and then to consider a cause for its song of such profound despondence. The narrator then admits to being envious of the nightingale for its freedom to sing the song. The meaning of this sonnet will be explored through key elements of prominent moods, language and figurative language devices, sound devices, poetic meter and rhyming patterns.
Prominent moods portrayed in Smiths sonnet are sadness, curiosity, and envy. These moods are displayed through Smith’s choice of wording. For example the first line, ‘Poor Melancholy bird—that all night long’, uses …show more content…
The iambic stresses fall on words that help portray the moods and such as liberty, melancholy, tender, sorrow and mournful. For example, line 13 ‘Ah! Songstress sad! That such my lot might be,’ has the stresses falling on songstress, sad, such, lot and be. Of course pulled apart, these stresses do not offer any meaning; however, when put together the meaning of the line has more emphasis due to the iambic pentameter.
Though normally Iambic pentameter is fairly common among most sonnets it is prevalent to note Smith often ends certain lines in her sonnets with an unstressed syllable such as love, flow or breast; ending each line on a soft note. This use of unstressed soft syllables gives Smith’s sonnets a mournfully feminine tone. Although it was common of the time to stick to a traditional Shakespearean sonnet Smith favoured the Petrarchan method; made relevant during the renaissance era by poet Francesco
Prominent moods portrayed in Smiths sonnet are sadness, curiosity, and envy. These moods are displayed through Smith’s choice of wording. For example the first line, ‘Poor Melancholy bird—that all night long’, uses …show more content…
The iambic stresses fall on words that help portray the moods and such as liberty, melancholy, tender, sorrow and mournful. For example, line 13 ‘Ah! Songstress sad! That such my lot might be,’ has the stresses falling on songstress, sad, such, lot and be. Of course pulled apart, these stresses do not offer any meaning; however, when put together the meaning of the line has more emphasis due to the iambic pentameter.
Though normally Iambic pentameter is fairly common among most sonnets it is prevalent to note Smith often ends certain lines in her sonnets with an unstressed syllable such as love, flow or breast; ending each line on a soft note. This use of unstressed soft syllables gives Smith’s sonnets a mournfully feminine tone. Although it was common of the time to stick to a traditional Shakespearean sonnet Smith favoured the Petrarchan method; made relevant during the renaissance era by poet Francesco