Critique of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 138 Essay

While the woman may outwardly profess her desire for her sexual partner, the dispassionate diction and detached tone within the sonnet suggest otherwise. For, in acknowledging her lover’s close proximity, she states that she is “urged”

A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines that rhyme in a particular pattern. William Shakespeare’s sonnets were the only non-dramatic poetry that he wrote. Shakespeare used sonnets within some of his plays, but his sonnets are best known as a series of one hundred and fifty-four poems. The series of one hundred and fifty-four poems tell a story about a young aristocrat and a mysterious mistress. Many people have analyzed and contemplated about the significance of these “lovers”. After analysis of the content of both the “young man” sonnets and the “dark lady sonnets”, it is clear that the poet, Shakespeare, has a great love for the young man and only lusts after his mistress.

To get a better understanding of a sonnet, I must look at a couple of poems, and figure out what the poet was trying to let the reader know. Let begin by reading “First Poem for You” by Kim Addonizio. As I read the poem, I thought it was about a women’s inner struggle within her relationship. The line, “They’ll last until you’re seared to ashes; whatever persists or turns to pain between us, they will still be there.” brings to light the women’s true desires in her relationship; she wants to stay, in a relationship, with the guy for a long time like the tattoos on his body.

For instance, there is redundancy, rhyme, imagery, symbolism, comparison, similar sounding word usage, implication, similitude, metaphor, representation and non-serious question. Be that as it may, reiteration, analogy, essence and symbolism contribute the most to the significance of the sonnet.

An English sonnet has 3 quatrains and ends with a resulting couplet. Gascoigne applies each part of the sonnet to focus on a particular evidence of reasoning behind the question. In the first quatrain, he infers that his supposed lover knows the ambiguous answer to why he holds his “louring head” is “so low”. Gascoigne uses contrasting diction when referring to him and when referring to her. He describes his head as “louring”

In the opening lines of Millay’s poem, it seems as if she is speaking to a lover. The tone of the poem is set in the first line, “in some quite casual way” (1). Throughout the sonnet, one senses a frighteningly casual tone, something very matter of fact, as if these fourteen lines are a passing thought in Millay’s head. The alliteration of “quite casual” supports the plain-spoken tone, giving a feel of simple, everyday speech. Millay imagines that as she is on the subway, she casually glances over and notices on “the back-page of a paper, say / Held by a neighbor” (3-4) her lover is gone and not to return.

Billy Collins, in his sonnet “Sonnet,” describes the content of sonnets in general, the Elizabethan sonnet, and the Petrarchan sonnet. Collins develop this idea, by stating that “All we need is fourteen lines,” to explain to a reader that all sonnets consist of fourteen lines; secondly, he metaphorically describes how a sonnet’s purpose is to “launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,” to show the reader that sonnets are normally meant to be about love and the complications that come with it; thirdly, by stating that the “iambic bongos must be played and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,” he metaphorically describes the rhythmic and rhyming limitations of the Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet; fourthly, he states that “ the

Stylistically Sonnet shares very few similarities to the two major forms of sonnets. It contains an octave and a sestet as the Petrarchan sonnet does as well. Beyond this sole equivalence, Sonnet takes a sharp right turn and boasts its uniqueness. Rhythmically there are only three lines in Sonnet that show regular iambics. The lines are “then only ten more left like rows of beans” / “and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines” / “blow out the lights, and come at last to bed” (Spacey). There are no other noticeable rhyme schemes at play. The entire sonnet is essentially casual-toned free verse. Another deliberate breakaway from the typical conventions of a sonnet are the multiple enjambments found between lines two and ten. We also see literary devices at play like anaphoras in lines: six, seven, eleven and twelve. Additionally, there is some alliteration in line three, six, and nine. Now that I have touched on the stylistic similarity and differences, I’m going to discuss the tone of Sonnet.

     In this sonnet, death is personified and shown as the speaker’s opponent in a struggle for her lover. Death is described as being coquettish and possessive. These attributes are used to describe death because they show how hard it would be to overcome this opponent. The descriptions show that death flirts with the man, in order to make him accept her. Once

Sonnet means a small or little song or lyric. A Sonnet has 14 lines and written in iambic pentameter. An line has 10 syllables. It has own rhyme scheme. Sonnet 30 is one of the 154 sonnets which it was written by famous playwright Shakespeare , scholars agreed that was written between 1595 and 1600. This poem consist of 14 lines of iambic pentameter , and divided into three quatrain and a couplet . most of the Shakespeare’s sonnet in between 1_126 are talk about a fair young man , who described as a young man . Who display the male relationship between male and female. Though some people agree that is talk about male relationship more and homosexuality.

The nature of the metaphors with which the lyrical subject of the sonnet presents the nature of our world are grim and

In sonnet 95, the speaker depicts a paternal feeling while speaking to the addressee, where indeed the poet reminds his audience about way appearance can be so deceiving. The young man is relying on his good appearance to veil his sexual immorality. Being that he is handsome and attractive, people are reluctant to disapprove his behavior. In the first quadrant, the poet employs different stylistic devices, which include simile, as the young man is likened to a fragrant rose, and on the other hand, he is compared to a destructive worm, but all his dark side of life is hidden under his good looking and charming nature. What is important about this poem is the manner in which the speaker reminds the young man about his bad behavior and draws examples that makes him feel sorry about what he does behind his good-looking nature. By the use of diction, imagery, diction, images, metaphors and other figures of speech, such as tone of voice, allusions, syntax and structure of the speech, the speaker warns the young man against his sexual immorality, and reminds him that there are detrimental risks associated with his behavior if he does not change.

This sonnet serves to invoke a strong sense of realism in love, arguing that as strong an intensity of emotion as may be held, may be held, without the need for delusions of grandeur, taking the view that trying to reconcile two essentially different and diverse things as equal is to do true justice to neither. The beloved in this case thus represents more the need for a character developed to challenge stereotype than an actual real-life woman,

Truth and honesty are key elements to a good, healthy relationship. However, in Shakespeare's Sonnet 138, the key to a healthy relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady is keeping up the lies they have constructed for one another. Through wordplay Shakespeare creates different levels of meaning, in doing this, he shows the nature of truth and flattery in relationships.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.