Comparing And Contrasting Two Sonnets

Sonnet 130 has also been recognized as ‘Anti-Petrachian’. In comparison Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare has the same discourse but instead of being cliché, mocks the courtly sonnets in his realistic portrayal of his mistress. He deals with the discourse of love and he does so in a way to bring to light the superficial clichés that had been held so highly.

Sonnets 60 and 64 are about the effects of time. This is a recurrent theme in Shakespeare's poems. Through the use of imagery, Shakespeare provides relatable experiences to describe the passage of time. Sonnet 60 provides three examples of the passage of time the first is waves moving towards a shore, the second is a child growing to maturity, and the third is time's effects on the beauty of youth. Sonnet 64 provides three of Shakespeare's personal experiences the first is time's effects on towers and brass, the second is the ocean and a shore, the third is the change of condition of things. Both sonnets have similarities and differences in themes, structure, and speech acts.

Shakespeare examines love in two different ways in Sonnets 116 and 130. In the first, love is treated in its most ideal form as an uncompromising force (indeed, as the greatest force in the universe); in the latter sonnet, Shakespeare treats love from a more practical aspect: it is viewed simply and realistically without ornament. Yet both sonnets are justifiable in and of themselves, for neither misrepresents love or speaks of it slightingly. Indeed, Shakespeare illustrates two qualities of love in the two sonnets: its potential and its objectivity. This paper will compare and contrast the two sonnets by Shakespeare and show how they represent two different attitudes to love.

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” similarly explore the theme of everlasting true love. However, both poems differ in rhyme scheme, techniques, and meaning. The poets use these tools to convey to the reader that everlasting true love does in fact exist. Although both speak so passionately about said love, only the speaker of Donne’s poem has actually experienced it.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sonnet, “What lips my lips have kissed and where and why,” is about being, physically or mentally jaded, and thinking back to the torrid love of one’s youth. The “ghosts” that haunt her are the many lovers of her past; she’s specifically trying to remember them all. She recalls the passion she experienced and how there was a certain feeling within herself. Millay shows this through her vivid imagery, use of the rain as a literary device and by paralleling herself with a lonely tree.

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love Is Not All” both attempt to define love, by telling what love is and what it is not. Shakespeare’s sonnet praises love and speaks of love in its most ideal form, while Millay’s poem begins by giving the impression that the speaker feels that love is not all, but during the unfolding of the poem we find the ironic truth that love is all. Shakespeare, on the other hand, depicts love as perfect and necessary from the beginning to the end of his poem. Although these two authors have taken two completely different approaches, both have worked to show the importance of love and to define it. However, Shakespeare is most confident of his definition of love, while Millay seems

“Sonnet 116” written by William Shakespeare is focusing on the strength and true power of love. Love is a feeling that sustainable to alterations, that take place at certain points in life, and love is even stronger than a breakup because separation cannot eliminate feelings. The writer makes use of metaphors expressing love as a feeling of mind not just heart as young readers may see it. To Shakespeare love is an immortal felling that is similar to a mark on a person’s life.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Sonnet IV” follows many of the conventions of the traditional Petrarchan sonnet. It follows the traditional rhyming scheme and octet, sestet structure. However it challenges the conventions of the typical subject of the Italian sonnet, unrequited love. In the octet at the beginning of the poem Millay uses images that give a sense of transience and in the ending sestet of the sonnet she contrasts the sense of impermanence given earlier with the idea that the speaker cannot forget the smiles and words of their ex-lover. This contrast between permanence and transience illustrates Millay’s interest in a fugacious relationship with everlasting memories. After further analysis of Millay’s highly structured rhyming scheme which puts emphasis on the last words of each line. She uses these words to further express her interest in exploring impermanent relationships by using words that are associated with an end or death.

American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay can be seen to fit into this category. She is particularly well known for her sonnets. This essay will analyse one of Millay’s sonnets in to context of the evolution of courtly love poetry. The history of the sonnet will also be examined to demonstrate how Millay has faithfully refashioned her poems. However, whist Millay has kept the construction of sonnet pure she has differed in the message it portrays. Hence this essay will also deconstruct Millay’s poem and discuss how its tone differs from traditional courtly love poetry.

Although Shakespeare and Millay have different perspectives on love, it is absolutely imperative to admit what is common to both sonnets, the principle of reciprocality or mutuality, meaning that love is not love if it is not

William Shakespeare, one of the best known writers of all time, is renowned for writing numerous plays and sonnets. Often, he laced his flowing writing with allusions and comparisons to nature and beauty. What is more exquisite than the celestial figures that grace our sky? Shakespeare juxtaposed stars to beautiful people many times, such as in the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and in his other work “Sonnet XIV.” In both pieces, two lovebirds connect the physical appeal of each other to the dazzling stars. Shakespeare conveys the theme that nature is superior to any secular beauty through the motif of stars.

When reading poems readers can understand the feeling and emotion that the poet is trying to protray by the structure. In the two poems, "Women", by Alice Walker, and "Sonnet 30", by William Shakespeare, are lyric poetry that have smiliar and different structures.

Since the beginning of time, human beings have found a variety of ways to illustrate their affections for one another. An intriguing form to present an individual’s ideal thoughts across is the form of poetry, for it displays a deep and mysterious meaning behind the connotation of the words used. Poetry allows writers to express themselves through the act of writing with the usage of a few words. However, it is sometimes difficult for a reader to comprehend what the poem is trying to imply, but that is the beauty behind poetry which as a reader, one might have a different interpretations from another. In an analysis of “She walks in beauty” by Lord Byron and “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare, they both have a unique distinction on how the words are used to project affections to their respective lover. The linguistic style of the poets diverges in their depiction the physical appearance, emotive feelings, and understanding what the lover means to them.

The poem “How Do I Love Thee”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed”, by Edna Vincent Millay are both well-known poems that both have themes of love. (LIT, Kirszner & Mandell, Pg. 490). In both poems the poet helps the reader experience a lot of emotion with the use of certain words. There are speakers in both poems. In Mrs. Browning’s poem, the speaker is undefined, leaving open that the speaker could be a he or she. Millay’s poem which is written in first person, the speaker is more defined leading the reader to believe it is a she who is talking about love in the past tense. Both poems are sonnets written with fourteen lines, and written in Italian style. When comparing these poems we will be looking at the use of rhyme scheme and metaphors and how they were used to express emotions in these two sonnet poems.

Similar to people in each period, literature is defined by its era. Likewise, critical literary periods influence motifs such as love and therefore are expressed differently over centuries. Within literature, love is expressed differently in the sixteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This is evident in“Since brass, nor stone, nor boundless sea” by William Shakespeare,John Fletcher's,“Take oh ,take those lips away' written in the Renaissance of the Elizabethan period,“Life in A Love” by Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy's “Broken Appointment” from the Romantic period and“To My Valentine” by Ogden Nash and Langston Hughes' “Love Again Blues” written in the Modern period . Each poem of different periods succumb to exterior influences in society and therefore projects love in distinct ways. The