Sonnet 138

The narrator of the poem views the young man partly with a maternal eye, but this changes throughout the poem 'who has never wished to put a stone through a great, clear, shining pane of glass' this shows there is also a sense of desire for the clean, unbroken youth rather than the narrator being in love with the young man. The tensions are entirely within the speaker’s emotions, as she knows that she would not be good for the young man, and would be a "parasite" on him, this portrays she realise that she cannot rely on him, if she did that would only harm the young man's unbroken youth, so it is better to separate from him before any harm is done. The narrator shows her maturity and loses her innocence at the end ' give her a smile, glass of light, and stay clear' this implies She knows both the source of her own desire which means she knows the consequences of that desire and decides to stay away from the young man which will benefit both the narrator and the young man.

So the lover, the poet, treats the loved object, the young man, as he would himself. The loved object serves as a substitute for some unattained ideal. In the case of the sonnets, the ideal is love. Being in love allows the poet to have what he wants but could not acquire before and serves as a means of satisfying his self-love.

The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him

"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive" -Sir Walter Scott. Shakespeare is one of the most celebrated authors in history, weaving deception throughout his writings. As he wrote about love, deception was seen over and over within his pieces. An example of Shakespeare’s work is from Sonnet 138, “O, love's best habit is in seeming trust.” This sonnet was based around a man and his mistress. The man knows that she lies about being faithful, but he also is aware that they do it in order to protect each other and their relationship. Later in Sonnet 157, the audience sees the outcome of the deception in Sonnet 138, as they are told that the man and his mistress are no longer. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo quotes, “O, how may I call this lightning? O my love! My wife! Death, that hath suck’d the honey

“For That He Looked Not upon Her” is written in the form of an English sonnet which helps to illustrate the speaker’s desperation in a conversational tone. The first quatrain develops an idea that the speaker does not wish to look at a specific woman. The poem is consistent iambic pentameter throughout which makes it seem as though the speaker is conversing with the reader. This creates an ambiguous tone in the beginning, for the reader does not know why he will not look towards this woman. The third line states, “And that mine eyes take no delight to range” (3). By using the spondee of “mine eyes” the speaker puts an emphasis on his broken heartedness, therefore, answering the question as to why the speaker refuses to look her direction. The second quatrain then addresses that the speaker wishes to look at his lover but is afraid of the repercussions. In this quatrain Gascoigne creates a slant rhyme with the words “bait” and “deceit” to enact the speaker’s tone of distrust (6,8). The speaker fights against his inner

Inner conflicts often dictate what the narrator wants, but cannot have, which creates the overall attitude of the poem. The narrator struggles to look at this woman because his "eyes take no delight to range/ about the gleam which on your face do grow" (3-4). He is not able to look at her even though she is beautiful due to the heartbreak that she left him with. This attitude carries on throughout the poem where he acknowledges her beauty but is unwilling to be hurt by her again. He is in agony from the emotions that she inflicts, and the readers see his mental process of working through it as he comes to the conclusion that he will "wink or else hold down my head" because it is her eyes that cause his "bale" (14-15). His attitude changes from being at war with his inner feelings to being accepted to the fact that if he looks at her he will be in danger of being hurt a second time. The irony being applied shows how his conflicted attitude is made clear by acknowledging that he will not give in to his desire despite what his repressed emotions are saying. Irony can be highly influential in discovering the narrator's hidden agenda and purposes, and the words chosen to reveal these purposes have an impact on the overall attitude of a piece of

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Tale of the Wife of Bath,” the Wife tells a story about a knight who rapes a maiden and is sentenced to death, unless he finds out what a woman desires most. He goes on a search, and hears many different opinions. Then, he comes across a hideous old woman who promises to tell him the answer as long as he does what she asks. He agrees, and tells the queen who grants him his freedom. The woman demands he marry her, which the knight desperately resists because of her physical ugliness. She tells him, “sir, you reprove me for age; but certainly…you nobles who are honorable say that one should honor an old person…” (237). She has pity on him, though, and gives him a choice: she will stay ugly but remain

The poem begins with a narrator describing her sorrow and suffering on her journey through life (TWL p.56 ll.1-5). She goes on to explain that the leader of her country has left his people (TWL p.56 l.6). The narrator is upset by this, and she searches for her only to find out that she can only see him if this is in secret (TWL p.56 ll.10-12). The audience finds out that the narrator’s leader is also her husband, and she does what she has to do to be with him again (TWL p.56 ll.14-15). After they get together once again, the narrator finds out that her husband isn’t the man he once was and sets her up “plotting murder” (TWL p.56 ll.18-20). She is then forced by her ex-husband to live in isolation by herself in under a tree in a cave (TWL p.56 ll. 27-28). The elegy ends with the narrator expressing her distaste for her ex-husband, and she hopes that he suffers the pain that she did for the rest of his life (TWL p.56 ll. 42-53). While the ending is distasteful, the wife playing the main character shows uniqueness for a poem written during the Old English era of literature (Johnson).

He concludes the poem by saying ‘The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori’ showing that he feels that his experiences are far from beautiful or even honourable.

There is a similar theme running through both of the poems, in which both mistresses are refusing to partake in sexual intercourse with both of the poets. The way in which both poets present their argument is quite

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.

The speaker starts the first quatrain criticizing his ‘mistress’. He spends each line comparing her to something else. The first line is a simile “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun”, her eyes are most likely brown or dull, ordinary. The first line also follows the basic iambic pentameter form, in the masculine sense ending with a stressed syllable, “my MIStress EYES are NOthing LIKE the SUN”. In the second line there is a break from the norm, where instead of the usual iambic pentameter, the stress falls on the first syllable “COral”. The second line “Coral is far more red than her lips red” is suggesting that her lips are not red and that women’s lips who are bright

Overall, both of these poems fulfill the same motive. They were written to praise women, but the two use different methods for doing so. In “Sonnet 18”, Shakespeare compares his lover with the negative aspects of summer stating “/Thou art more lovely and more temperate/” (2). On the other hand in “Sonnet 130”, Shakespeare compares his mistress to the good qualities of acquisitive things to show how even though she is not perfect, she is still important to him. He vows “by heaven” (13) that the feelings he has for his mistress are as rare “/As any she belied with false compare/” (14). The messages delivered by the two poems are very unique. In “Sonnet 18”, the woman being described is perfect and does

He starts of his poem by flattering her and making her feel adored and loved. Now that he has her attention, he suddenly transitions into telling her that her beauty is all she has, and over time it will fade and she will die. If he doesn't give up her virginity for him, then the worms will take it. He also mentions that if she does not have sex with him, his lust and sex life will end and turn to dust, as if that's her problem. To finish off, he gives his last lines of persuasion. In the third stanza, it is implied that he thinks his argument was successful, and goes back to complimenting her. The character is that breed of male that thinks their opinion on women is important, and constantly comments on what a woman should or should not do. The mistress should be able to do what she wants with her virginity. Whether she believes it's real and wants to preserve it for someone less desperate, or if she believes it is just a social construct and wants to have fun, a man's opinion on it is not important! No woman should have to tolerate the persistence of a man who only says what she wants to hear in order to have his way with her, especially after she has refused his

He accepts her essentially, because of her mediocracy. At times, he is outraged by her additional lovers, but he still is wrapped around her finger. He blames himself for staying with her even though the relationship is toxic and copes with her infidelity. Shakespeare turns the traditional feeling of a love sonnet to that of hatred, resentment, and lust. It seems more in line with the reality and harshness of falling in love, as opposed to the traditional googly-eyed admiration of a lover. Since Shakespeare avoids this fictional theme, he gives readers a good reason to believe his Sonnets may actually be true.