RECAP- SHAKESPEARE's SONNETS

 

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..."