SHAKESPEARE’s SONNETS
Overview & Collection
- Total Sonnets: 154 sonnets published in a
1609 collection by Thomas Thorpe.
- Primary Themes: Love, beauty, mortality, time,
aging, art/immortality, and jealousy.
- Thematic
Sub-groups:
- The Fair Youth (Sonnets
1–126):
Addressed to a handsome young man; explores beauty, friendship, time, and
encouragement to marry/reproduce.
- The Dark Lady (Sonnets
127–152):
Addressed to an alluring, non-conventionally beautiful woman; deals with
realistic, often conflicted passion, obsession, and imperfect love.
- The Greek Sonnets (Sonnets
153–154):
Allegorical poems referencing Cupid.
Structure
of a Shakespearean (English) Sonnet
A standard
Shakespearean sonnet consists of 14 lines written in iambic
pentameter (five metric feet per line, alternating unstressed and stressed
syllables: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM).
In
Shakespeare’s sonnets, lines are written in iambic pentameter. An
"iamb" is a metric foot consisting of an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable (
). Pentameter means there are five of
these feet per line (10 syllables total).
Syllable
Stress Map
Broken
Down into Metric Feet (Iambs)
Syllable
Stress Map
Broken
Down into Metric Feet (Iambs)
- Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
- The Volta (Turn): A shift in tone, argument, or
perspective. It typically occurs between the third quatrain and the final
couplet (line 13), though it can sometimes begin at line 9.
2.
Detailed Focus: Sonnet 18 & Sonnet 130
Sonnet
18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
Summary
& Core Message
The speaker
considers comparing the beloved's beauty to a summer's day but concludes that
the beloved is superior. Summer is fleeting, unpredictable, and often too hot,
whereas the beloved's beauty will never fade because it is captured forever in
the poem itself.
Key Themes
- Immortality through Poetry: Art triumphs over time and
physical death.
- Idealized Beauty: Nature is imperfect, but art
creates perfection.
Key Literary Devices
- Metaphor: Comparing the beloved to a
summer's day.
- Personification: The sun is referred to as the "eye
of heaven" and death is described as braggy ("Nor shall
Death brag thou wander'st in his shade").
- Anaphora: Repetition of words like "And
every..." to build rhythm.
Sonnet
130: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"
Summary
& Core Message
The speaker
provides a realistic description of his mistress, directly subverting
traditional Petrarchan love poetry. Unlike idealizing poems that compare women
to stars, roses, or goddesses, Shakespeare notes that her lips aren't bright
red, her skin isn't white as snow, and her breath isn't perfumed. Yet, in the final
couplet, he declares his love to be as rare and genuine as any love built on
false comparisons.
Key Themes
- Realism vs. Idealized
Romanticism:
True affection does not require hyperbolic flattery.
- Satire/Parody: Mocking conventional
Renaissance love poetry tropes.
Key Literary Devices
- Simile & Anti-Petrarchan
Imagery: "eyes
are nothing like the sun", "coral is far more red than
her lips' red".
- Sensory Imagery: Sight, smell, sound ("I
grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the
ground").
Summary Comparison Table
|
Feature |
Sonnet 18 |
Sonnet 130 |
|
Addressee |
The Fair Youth |
The Dark Lady |
|
Tone |
Admiring, elevated, romantic, reflective |
Satirical, realistic, witty, sincere |
|
View of Beauty |
Idealized, transcendent |
Realistic, human, imperfect |
|
Function of Poetry |
Immortalizes the beloved forever |
Rejects false poetic conventions |
|
The Volta (Turn) |
Line 9: "But
thy eternal summer shall not fade" |
Line 13: "And
yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare..." |
