Sonnet 138, by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s 98th sonnet is a beautiful presentation of platonic love and missing a beloved friend. Sonnet 98 is wonderfully put together with artistic patterns of imagery, such as the description of the flowers, diction, which creates a tone of youth and longing for the presence of a loved one, This sonnet is one in the fair youth sequence, which are sonnets where the speaker writes about his love for a young man, and the second of three sonnets mentioning his beloveds absence. The imagery in sonnet 98 is vivid and colorful and gives the reader feelings of youth and deep admiration for the young man addressed in the Fair Youth sequence of Shakespeare's sonnets.

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.

Another interesting use of diction is, "the eye of heaven," in line 5. The use of the word eye implies that someone is watching down from heaven. Instead of using the word sun, Shakespeare chose a more dramatic term. By using the biblical term, he is saying that the worlds view of heaven through the sun is still nothing compared to the subject of the poem; expressing to the reader just how magnificent this young man, truly is. A different use of diction in this sonnet is in line 7, "fair from fair." It is interesting that he chose to use the same word twice, especially since there are multiple connotations of the word. It could mean that he is good looking, he has been treated justly, he could be delighted to see someone or even simply that

William Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 18 as part of a sequence of 154 sonnets. Also known as “Shall I Compare Thee?” Sonnet 18 has become one of his most well loved poems. Shakespeare includes symbols of time, decay and eternity within this work. The speaker explicates his unending love for his beloved and how it will live on after death. The first quatrain introduces the personification of summer.

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 138” presents an aging man’s rationalization for deceit in an affair with a younger woman. The speaker of the sonnet realizes his mistress lies to him about being faithful. He in turn, portrays himself as younger than he actually is: “When my love swears that she is made of truth / I do believe her though I know she lies, / That she might think me some untutored youth…” (1-3). “Sonnet 138” allows the reader a glimpse into the speaker’s mind, and what one finds is a man suffering from what is commonly known as a midlife crisis. In an effort to reverse “the downslope [sic] of age” (Kermode “Millions”), he takes part in a duplicitous affair with a

The sonnet begins with the poet making a declaration of his belief in love. In line one he refers to a “marriage of true minds” (1). The choice of the word “true” here is interesting as it has many possible meanings. Did he intend for us to think of true as meaning correct, exact, or precise? These are not the meanings that come to mind when we talk about love. In keeping with the theme of love we see that the meaning of true here is of the genuine, pure, and honest variety. As he transitions to line two with the words “Admit impediments” (2) he speaks of not allowing obstacles to interfere with love. He continues telling us what love is not when he ends

If I was the recipient of the two sonnets, I would feel both honored and loved, while simultaneously offended and hurt. Shakespeare spends the majority of both sonnets borderline bullying his subjects. Offering only a slight rebuttal in the closing couplets of both sonnets. In Sonnet 130, Shakespeare details the mundaneness of his love, speaking of how she is not special, and he recognizes that there are many things better than her. These descriptions are countered by the final couplet of the sonnet, in which Shakespeare says how rare his love for her is, and how he unfairly compared her, thus changing the entire tone of the sonnet within the last couplet. Shakespeare employs this same tactic in Sonnet 138. In this sonnet, Shakespeare details

Sonnets 5 and 6 from Shakespeare’s Sonnets, a collection of sonnets written by William Shakespeare, represent themes such as procreation, the passage of time, beauty, love and mortality. Shakespeare’s sophisticated use of rhetorical methods, persuasive techniques, metaphors, repetition, structural framing, combined with his aesthetic values create a parallel in these two sonnets. In both sonnets, he tries to convince the handsome young man to marry and beget children so that the youth 's incredible beauty will not die when the youth dies. While both sonnets share similar themes, metaphors, and structures, sonnet 6 is a continuation of sonnet 5, expanding on the idea of the preservation of beauty in a more dramatic and critical tone.

Throughout the sonnet connotation and denotation change the meaning of some words. One example is located in stanza two line four, “vainly”. Denotatively means that it is useless. Connotative it means arrogance. Changing the meaning of the sonnet because the “young lady” thinks that the speaker is lying about his age. Though the “young lady” is also lying about her age as well. Different meanings of the word can change the meaning of the sonnet.

There is a constant theme of love found consistently within many forms of literature. The reoccurring theme of love is indicated within two poems, Sonnet 116 written by Shakespeare and Cinderella by Anne Sexton. Love is like a diamond, extremely rare and difficult to find. Shakespeare and Anne Sexton surpassed many other author’s in being able to capture the theme of love in their pieces of literature.

Many poets through history have written about love, this essay will examine how love is presented in 2 poems.

      But first let us look at the poem.  Below is a copy of a sonnet CXVI:

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.

Sonnet 95 follows what I would categorize as the hinge poem, meaning that Sonnet 94 is the poem that, through its flattery underlined with some sort of malice, opens the door for the anger that follows in the proceeding sonnet. The speaker has now fully understood that the young man has decided him, having relations with another, and confronts him in this sonnet. There is such veracity in the lines that a reader could easily imagine how the speaker would have said them to the young man, at a reasonable volume with such edge to the voice it would seem some sort of malevolent contempt. Although, one must not ignore the longing held in the undercurrent of the speaker’s voice, a type of realization that the person whom you loved does not

     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.