The Effects Of Time In Sonnet 138 And Sir Walter Raleigh's Sonnet 116

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.

Raleigh reiterates many of Marlowe's images and ideas, but distorts them through the lens of time. The same alliteration is also used in both; there is, however, a marked difference in their sounds. Marlowe alliterates softer "m" and "l" sounds, giving his poem the aforementioned rolling aspect. Raleigh imitates Marlowe extremely well, but there is a telling difference that can be noted in some places; Raleigh uses a rougher alliteration of sounds like hard "c" and "t" to give his poem a more mocking, satirical bent. This is especially prominent in the second stanza of Raleigh's poem; while Marlowe's second stanza has the softer alliterative sounds, Raleigh's stanza moves stiffly with the "c" sounds in "complains of cares to come "(8).

The Renaissance Era’s use of nature as an impediment to the speaker’s love evinces society’s conception of the separation between humans and nature. Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 60” uses parallels between Time and the Earth to portray Time as a barrier. For example, the speaker employs a simile to compare “like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore” with the manner in which “minutes hasten to their ends” (Shakespeare 1, 2). This correlation helps the audience better understand how quickly time passes. Nature is used to iterate the rapid approach of the living towards death. This

The poem "Clocks and Lovers" by W. H. Auden’s contrasts the idea of whether or not love will outlast time. Initially, the poem portrays a lover affirming the belief that love will triumph over time. The poem transitions and depicts the clocks' argument that due to time, love will eventually fade away. The narrator contrasts the two arguments with usage of imagery, personification, tone and diction. The argument that love will prevail over time is contrasted by the belief that as time goes by, time can never be stopped and love will not last. Overall, neither belief is represented as correct because the narrator contrasts the two opposing arguments by displaying that two arguments are incompatible. In regards to their following arguments, time is not as malicious or arduous to love but love is not impervious to time.

After reading the Carlos Salgado (2013) essay about the two sonnets the areas of needed improvement is visible. Carlos’s essay is well organized, talking about Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 30” and then talking about Millay’s “Sonnet”. The order of organization provides a better impact and flow to the overall essay. Salgado talks about the main concept, “time as one filled with much sorrow and loss”, of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 30” in the first body paragraph and then talks about Millay’s “Sonnet” in the second body paragraph. Salgado also does a good job of using quotes as evidence and backup. When describing “Sonnet 30,” the writer says, “The speaker recounts his, “remembrance of things past,” (2) saying he has, “the lack of many a thought”. Both quotes are well integrated into one sentence demonstrating that the level of support for the essay is critical. From the essay written by Carlos Salgado, it shows the absence of a well thought out layout and quoted material in Similarity and Differences in Shakespeare and Millay Sonnets.

In “Sonnet II,” by Millay, the speaker describes how time has gone on and she still misses her former boyfriend. Similar to that, in “Sonnet 73,” by Shakespeare, the speaker describes how time has gone on, taking his youth away. Overall, through the use of gloomy imagery and a dreary tone, Shakespeare and Millay present time’s negative effects on a person, within their dismal sonnets.

Often, the history behind love stories has two -if not more- sides. Both sides of this story can be seen in W.H. Auden’s poem Clocks and Lovers, in which each side has a different attitude. The attitudes of the clocks differs greatly from that of the lover, with opposite points of view. Both attitudes relate to separate groups of people and are shown simply through analysis of the poem, because the poet uses literary devices to emphasize both perspectives. While the lover overzealously believes his love can transcend time, the clocks counter by stating that time’s relentlessness erodes all.

Through the use of these strategies, Shakespeare is able to convey his theme of still loving and trusting the other person, despite minor, white, subtle lies, by bringing new and different meanings to words. In line twelve, “age in love loves not to have years told”, age is given the human characteristic of loving. By not acting/telling the actual age of the speaker, the speaker is lying to the dark lady, but she still loves him despite this because “love’s best habit is in seeming trust.” Love is about trusting or pretending to trust the other, even if they bend the truth a little. Both of them still loving each other despite their subtle lies is also demonstrated by the thirteenth line when they still share a bed (“Therefore I lie with her and she with me”).

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.

Shakespeare seems absorbed in physical resplendency when reading Sonnet Nineteen. His aperture line, “Devouring time…” time is eating up all of earth’s creatures. All of the resplendency is eaten up by time. Gray utilizes the theme of time by imaging what the mundane man of this country churchyard did during their life. Instead of being upset about time passing, glomming resplendency within the world, and not capitalizing on the time given to us, Gray is appreciating the time the deceased has had. “For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, / or diligent housewife ply her evening care: / no children run to lisp their sire’s return, / or climb his knees the envied kiss to apportion.” Here, Gray is reminiscing the times a certain man might return home and appreciating the affection of his family. Other poets might visually perceive time as an exasperation; Gray optically discerns it as a treasure to be cherished.

During the Renaissance period, most poets were writing love poems about their lovers/mistresses. The poets of this time often compared love to high, unrealistic, and unattainable beauty. Shakespeare, in his sonnet 18, continues the tradition of his time by comparing the speakers' love/mistress to the summer time of the year. It is during this time of the year that the flowers and the nature that surround them are at there peak for beauty. The theme of the poem is to show the speakers true interpretation of beauty. Beauties worst enemy is time and although beauty might fade it can still live on through a person's memory or words of a poem. The speaker realizes that beauty, like the subject of the poem, will remain perfect not in the

Although poetry may seem timeless it does not necessarily mean that this is true. Some say that history repeats itself, however we can see this only happen to an extent. The subject’s of Shakespeare's works may not apply to most people today. However the relevance a poem is determined by the reader themselves and their personal experiences or those they have seen others partake in.

Marlowe’s poem depicts a perfect relationship between two lovers, though their actions are not meant to be accurately represented; they instead display a meaning behind them that the poet is trying convey to his audience. The speaker attempts to intrigue his lover by revealing one of his many promises to her, which is “A gown made of the finest wool / Which from our pretty lambs we pull” (Marlowe 13-14). Although on the surface, the speaker seems to merely praise the wool's quality. Instead, he underlyingly suggests his praise for his lover's beauty. Furthermore, Marlowe uses repetition in his poem to emphasize the speaker’s love for his lover, especially at the end of the poem when it says that, “If these delights thy mind may move; / Then live with me, and be my love”

For this essay I will be discussing time and change in Shakespeare’s sonnets. I will mostly be focusing on sonnets 18,60, 65 and 73. Shakespeare regularly refers to time throughout his sonnets. When looking through each of Shakespeare’s sonnets it is obvious that the narrator is preoccupies with the passing of time including immortality, inevitability, memory and change. It seems that Shakespeare is distraught over things that he cannot control such as time, but throughout his sonnets he still tries to conquer time. Shakespeare often personifies time, this is seen throughout his poems and it can take many different forms such as the destruction of time or the effects of time on a specific person.