Iambic tetrameter

In Sonnet 29, the narrator examines his life that he has been dealt. Shakespeare uses poetic devices to describe the speaker’s emotional progression from a depressed soul to a happy lover. In Quatrain 1, Shakespeare introduces the life topic of depression; as the narrator battles this within himself, a conflict is presented to the audience. The narrator “beweep[s] [his] outcast state,” which translates the narrator’s discontentment with his life. An outcast is a person who has been rejected by a…

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a love poem written in the form of a sonnet. Elizabeth wrote a series of 44 sonnets in secret about the intense love she felt for her husband to be, poet Robert Browning. Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy is a poem that describes what Carol decides to give to a lover for Valentines Day - an onion. The poem explains why it is a powerful gift of love, in comparison to what is usually given on Valentines Day. What’s different about the two poems is the two…

In “An Echo Sonnet” by Robert Pack, the speaker, who is trying to write, is thinking to himself with his internal voice. The echo repeats the ending word of each sentence, but also sometimes changes returns a word that sounds similar to the previous word. Although the echo seems to be only repeating the voice, it reveals the subconscious thoughts of the speaker by altering the words. Pack utilizes the call and response format and changing sounds of the echo to convey purpose of artists, who…

Through the use of opposite tones, Shakespeare and Byron both end up reaching the same conclusion of true beauty is on the inside. In the beginning of She Walks in Beauty the poet is persuading the audience that his love is perfect, while in Sonnet 130, the poet is mocking typical beauty standards. The first stanza of She Walks in Beauty starts off with the speaker admiring his love: "She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies..." (Byron, 1-2). Byron is idolizing…

There were many parts in this play that I particularly enjoyed. One of the many parts of your play that I really enjoyed was when Romeo and Juliet first met. When they first met you decided to have them speak in sonnets. This was a really good decision because it showed that Romeo and Juliet had adapted this strong rich love for each other. Is that how you wanted the audience to feel? If not why did you choose a sonnet as the first words Romeo and Juliet speak to each other? I suppose using a…

The Ugly Truth of Shakespeare’s Love We all have our own opinions about what true love really is. Love is something no one can really answer to why it exists. Both of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about love, but whether it’s about real love is the question. Romeo and Juliet’s sonnet is about “love at first sight,” while “Sonnet 130” is whole other story. Unlike the sonnet in act 1, scene 5, the way Shakespeare describes his love in “Sonnet 130,” is true. In “Sonnet 130,” Shakespeare is…

Suburban Sonnet was written by Gwen Harwood, who is an award winning poet that often focuses her work on the role of women and in particular motherhood. Her works often also pose gender as an intriguing dimension. The title Suburban Sonnet already provokes attention form the reader, as the suburbs would already be perceived as dull or boring, which can outline the life ahead for the speaker. Suburban Sonnet is the story of women who has been trapped within the life of a suburban housewife and…

“What did I know, What did I know / Of love's austere and lonely offices?” (lines 13-14) is a quote directly from “Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden, in which the speaker sees a new light and begins a process of understanding. This sonnet uses many literary elements throughout it in order to further emulate that idea. Having a poem written this way allows the reader to experience the ashamed and regretful mood. By observing the imagery, repetition, and personification it can be…

How do Browning and Villay use language to express strong emotion about Love? Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 43” and Edna St Vincent Millay’s “Sonnet 29” show that love is a life-changing force in a person’s life, and how they are affected differently by Cupid’s arrow. Browning has a sensuous experience of love whereas it has impacted Millay adversely. This essay explores how the twopoets use the sonnet form, imagery and tone to express their contrasting feelings of love. The sonnet…

Shakespeare’s hatred for the standards of how a woman should be described alludes to what kind of man he was and the type of woman he adored. James Hale wrote a critical analysis about Sonnet 130 in his analysis he states, “In the love poem tradition, as it emerged in English poetry in imitation of the sonnets of fourteenth century Italian poet Petrarch, poets often compare their beloveds to the elements of nature.” (Hale) He did technically write about how he loved her in a worshipping fashion,…