Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare and Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy

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 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.

In William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, there are numerous of dramatic purposes that the characters serve in the building of the story. One major character that stands out is Friar Laurence who is a wise and holy man respected by everyone in Verona. However, you should not let that presentation of him fool you. There are a variety of times Friar Laurence has committed sins of dishonesty and deception. The few but many dramatic purposes Friar Laurence has in Romeo and Juliet include: being a mastermind with medicine, peacemaker, and the main reason for Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Teens in the stage of growing up needs the trust and support from their family and friends to be able to survive in this world. Most teens are like puppets who become the person that their parents want them to be, but as they mature into adults, they have their own desires and ways of thinking, which enable them to break free from the puppet control and become who they really are. In the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the playwright used the Nurse, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence to show how taming the wills of the teens and forcing their wishes upon them could turn the play Romeo and Juliet into a tragic love story.

Love is the most powerful feeling of emotion in all kinds of relationships such as a father to his son or a lover to his mistress. The poem '' My Papa's Waltz'' by Theodore Roethke and "Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare focus on a similar theme which is love. The speaker in “My Papa’s Waltz”, and the speaker in sonnet 130 describe loving someone more than yourself. In Roethke's poem, the speaker is a young boy who remembers his childhood relationship with his father. In sonnet 130, the speaker is a man who loves his mistress by celebrating the love for her. Theodore Roethke and William Shakespeare demonstrate the theme of love through using simile, metaphor, and tone to show the importance of love in their poems.

In the poems ‘Let Me Describe for You Her Eyes’ by Glenn Colquhoun, and ‘Sonnet XVIII’ by William Shakespeare, both writers’ describe their experiences and ideas of love in two very contrasting ways, which can reflect on the world around us, and helped me learn about the how different relationships can affect people, and the world around them. Though their ideas may differ, both writers used similar techniques, such as the use of an extended metaphor. Similarly, both writers tone and structure supported their own ideas of what was like for them in the relationship of which they are writing, and helps the readers, as well as myself, to understand the message which their poems portray. Both, have very contrasting ideas when it comes to love,

Carol Anne Duffy presents love and romance in a unique way that differentiates valentine from any other love poem. Throughout this poem carol expresses love though the original metaphor of an onion. This essay analyses how she does this so effectively and how she presents a range of ideas about love and romance.

Grief is keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; and sharp sorrow. Grief is something that can take a massive toll on one’s mental health and actions. It can change a person’s thinking and what they do. In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, grief is shown in many ways but with each person who is grieving they begin to act differently than they normally would.

In the hands of a master such as Shakespeare, the conventions of the sonnet form are manipulated and transformed into something unique and originally emphasized. Both sonnets in one way or another subvert the conventions of the base Petrarchan sonnet; though they are about love, the traditional topic of sonnets, whilst in Sonnet 20 the object of desire is unattainable and there is no evidence of the level of affection being requited, the target is male, and the target of the poet's affections in Sonnet 130 is the poetic voice's current mistress. It also seems important to note that love in neither of these cases is of the generic youthful female Aryan stereotype, and

‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay are both sonnets that discuss companionship and a glimpse of each poet’s experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love, while on the contrary, in ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” Millay feeds on the chaos between the ideal of love and its harsh reality, heartbreak. Both poets seem to be love struck but there is a significant difference in the two. I will compare and contrast ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I will also inquire and analyze why this particular form of poetry established different effects.

“Sonnet 130” written by William Shakespeare, is one of his most well known poems and can be analyzed and broken apart in great depth. The poem is written in fourteen lines which makes it a sonnet. Like all of Shakespeare’s sonnets the meter is iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme for “Sonnet 130” is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. An overlaying theme for “Sonnet 130” is, “True love is based on how beautiful you find someone on the inside.” Shakespeare proves to have a great view on true love in this sonnet. He cares more about what’s on the inside rather than what’s on the outside. “Sonnet 130’s” theme can be proven by Shakespeare's use of poetic and literary devices, the tone and mood of the sonnet, and the motif of true love.

William Shakespeare is recognized for being one of greatest poets of all time. His works are still popular to this day. Many of his works included extended metaphors and similes with rhetorical language and were rooted in the nature of love. Two of his poems that are rather alike, but also very contrastive are “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and “My mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” They both contain a core theme of love or anti-love in some aspects. While these two poems are built around the same type of subject, their interpretations come across in separate ways. In contrast to Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” which is a serious love poem that contains imagery and metaphors, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” is more negative and humorous but contains imagery and similes.

To begin with, the sonnets both share an obvious and similar subject, which is love. The message in each poem just are delivered in different ways. “The universal Heritage Dictionary, as “a set of attitudes toward love that was strong.’” Sonnet 18 is what you would call your classic love poem. He is explaining how the woman’s love is compared to a summer’s day. He is basically saying his love for her will never die and will always live on. While in sonnet 130, it comes off as very spiteful and mean in the beginning. It’s not your classic love poem that one would be used to. He is pointing out all of her physical flaws by comparing them to things. For example, in the poem he says “I have seen

Shakespeare, who wrote the sonnets in 1609, expresses his own feelings through his greatest work of literature. The theme of love in the poems reflect thoughts from the Renaissance period. Love is one of many components of Shakespeare’s life shown in the sonnets. Love can be defined in many ways other than a strong affection for a lover. In Shakespeare’s sonnets, the concept of love can be seen through many uncommon means such as the love of life before death in “Sonnet 73,” love in marriage in “Sonnet 116,” love through sexual desire in “Sonnet 129,” and love through nature in “Sonnet 130,” proving that love can be expressed through many different feelings and emotions.