Sonnets

features of the Shakespearean sonnet; 2) illustrate those key features of the Shakespearean sonnet by making specific reference to the text of “Sonnet 116”; and 3) discuss how an understanding of the form contributes to a greater understanding of the “meaning” (beyond the literal plot) of the poem. The Shakespearean sonnet, also known as the English sonnet, is made up three quatrains and a couplet following the rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Shakespearean sonnets are composed of fourteen…

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Sonnet XI and XXXIV Analysis Sonnets XIV and XXXIV by Elizabeth Barrett Browning are clear examples of Italian sonnets through their utilizing of Italian rhyme scheme and content breaks of octaves followed by sestets. Although heavy usage of enjambment blurs the distinctions in some cases, the shifts in subject focus assist in clarifying the octave - sestet separations. For example, Sonnet XIV is broken into clear octave - sestet structure with the beginning octave…

speaker in “Sonnet 116” says, “It is the star to every wandering bark / Whose worth 's unknown, although his height be taken” (Shakespeare 7-8). By comparing intellectual love to a star, Shakespeare emphasizes how intellectual love has more potential than any other type of love. The star in the sky represents “love of the minds” as stars are great and powerful. Because stars are distant, they are able to guide ships to their destination through observation. Essentially, the speaker in the sonnet…

In Shakespeare 's sonnet "Sonnet CXXX," the blazon is constructed in a very peculiar way. Mary Wroth, in sonnet 42 "Pamphilia to Amphilanthus," interprets the blazon within herself rather than her love. Both uses of the blazon depict a time in which love is of the essence. However, in both sonnets, the person in which they are describing is forever unknown. Shakespeare attacks the blazon of his sonnet and creates an anti-blazon, while both sonnets are still in singular perspectives. In…

Francesco Petrarch’s Sonnet 333 represents his feelings towards a woman and his life. Petrarch explains his feelings by conveying a dark, melancholy tone at the beginning of his sonnet and a more hopeful tone towards the end. He uses irony in the form of a paradox to convey that his love for a woman is alive, although she is dead. He also juxtaposes death and life, and hope and sadness throughout his sonnet. By using metaphors, paradoxes, and diction Petrarch shows his love, grief, and longing…

Love is a great feeling that links a number of people together through both emotional and physical aspects. Sonnet 18, written by William Shakespeare, is one of the best poems that reflect to the issue of love and emotions between a woman and a man. Shakespeare begins the poem with an opening question: “”Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The other lines are directly devoted to the question, which reflects on comparing the beloved one to the summer day. With a clear analysis of the poem,…

John Donne in Death be not proud and Edgar Allen Poe in Spirits of the dead explore the idea that Death is an unavoidable part of life, but this death is not all powerful, as the spirits of those who have died, live on. Donne’s Sonnet has an aggressive tone, it is an attack on death, a mocking and satirical challenge,’. . . poore death. . . Thou art a slave. . .’ whereas Spirits of the Dead emphasises the inevitability of death in a sombre, resentful tone. Donne’s personification and…

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 “When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,” The speaker explores feelings of jealousy, disdain, loneliness, and true love. Particularly the power that a person’s love can have on it’s recipient. The speaker has a swift change of heart upon thinking of love, improving the tone of the sonnet. This leaves the impression that the simple thought of love, whether past or current, is enough to lift even the gloomiest of attitudes. In the sonnet, the speaker’s tone is…

Scott presents an unconventional relationship between the speaker and his wife, a woman so complicated and fluctuating that he has to persevere hard in order to “learn” her constantly changing moods, something that he inevitably cannot do. However, in Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare successfully presents a conventional love between the speaker and his partner, who’s beauty and love from the speaker is endless and timeless. In Marrysong, Scott compares the speaker’s wife to nature to highlight…

here: “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare and “The Flea” by John Donne. Donne is known for his dense erotic poems and Shakespeare is greatly appreciated for his rich and numerous sonnets and plays of varied interests throughout literature history. Therefore, here the plot, tone, expression and meaning of the poems by Shakespeare and Donne reflect the love theme in their own way. To begin, both the poets show that love is the driving force for their works. All the lines in Shakespeare’s “Sonnet…