The Perception Of Language In The Sonnets Of William Shakespeare

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.

Shakespeare sticks to the traditions of the 14-line poem strictly within 'Sonnet 116', as it is made up of fourteen lines in total, with each line consisting itself of ten syllables. The sonnet also follows a regular stress pattern.

William Shakespeare wrote a group of 154 sonnets between 1592 and 1597, which were compiled and published under the title Shakespeare's Sonnets in 1609. Our attention will focus on sonnet 12, a remarkable and poignant poem about the relentless passing of time, the fading beauty, immortality, death and Old Age, these subjects being typical of all Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Shakespeare's use of metaphors in this sonnet conveys his theme of the inescapable aging process. Shakespeare "establishes and extends a metaphor that illuminates the poem's central meaning" and compares the inevitability of old age to three different aspects of nature (Prather). Similarly all the metaphorical quatrains begin with either the phrase "thou mayest in me behold" or "In me

The sonnet that Shakespeare used has 14 lines in total. It was written in iambic pentameter, in which the lines are 10 syllables long. The sonnet has a specific rhyme scheme.

       The sonnet, however, is not simply a fourteen-line poem having a prescribed rhyme scheme. Certainly most sonnets are fourteen-line poems, and most sonneteers do confine themselves to prescribed rhyme patterns (Bender and Squier xxii).

Shakespeare, in his procreation sonnets created a renewed sense of life into one man, whom was the center reason he wrote the seventeen sonnets. These pro life or procreation sonnets revolve around a central theme and a central argument of marrying, as well as the producing of new life. Shakespeare is able to create this central theme of marrying and production of new life through several well used literary elements. Allegory, parallelism and repetition, all used in the individual sonnets and the work put together as a whole to create the central theme of procreation and pro life.

In the first line of the sonnet by Shakespeare, the speaker commences by conveying the unyielding aspect of “time”. “Time” is very crucial because it determines who are and it shapes you. Because “time” is “unfair” Shakespeare uses personification to portray its significance.

As quickly as the Shakespearean narrator shifts in stance, not only from quatrain to quatrain but from line to line, it becomes quite easy to fall into the hole of misinterpretation.  And thus, some popular sonnets are popular because of their misinterpretation.  Shakespeare's speeds ahead in his poetry while readers are left behind, totally oblivious, but still of the mind that they are following close behind.

English poet William Shakespeare is known for his astounding works around the world. Sonnets are beautifully constructed and rear lasting truths about the world we live in. All of Shakespeare’s sonnets are in the form of an English sonnet. He used this method so frequently that it has coined the term the Shakspearian sonnet. Shakespeare has written a collection of 154 sonnets’, the first 126 sonnets address a young man and the last, about a woman (About…). It is believed that Shakespeare was a bisexual; a lifestyle not accepted in that period. Three of his most popular works were chosen to exemplify the overall theme. Sonnets 18, 29 and 116 were chosen from the 154 others because they are a few of the most popular of his works in this form. The individual theme, tone through diction, and meaning of the poems will be analysed to prove Shakespeare’s works are about the idealized power of love and immortalizing the subject.

Shakespeare’s sonnet 60 expresses the inevitable end that comes with time and uses this dark truth to express his hopefulness that his poetry will carry his beloved’s beauty and worth into the future in some way so that it may never die. This love poem is, as all sonnets are, fourteen lines. Three quatrains form these fourteen lines, and each quatrain consists of two lines. Furthermore, the last two lines that follow these quatrains are known as the couplet. This sonnet has the rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, as most Shakespearean sonnets follow. In each of the three quatrains, Shakespeare discusses a different idea. In this particular sonnet, the idea is how time continues to pass on, causing everything to die. The couplet connects these ideas to one central theme, this theme being Shakespeare’s hope for the beauty of his beloved’s immortality through his poetry’s continuation into future times.

Some major changes occurred in the 14-15th century which effected people’s views on life. For instance, slowly modernism took over medievalism. New ideas appeared concerning politics, religion and science. What mostly effected the people was not the arrival of these ideas but the opposition of the new and old believes being present at the same time. A good example is the shift from Catholicism to Protestantism.

In the poem by W. Shakespeare mentions that his emotions about getting older by using nature as metaphor. The sonnet is written in iambic pentameter with a regular rhyme scheme, regular meter, and the structure consists of three quatrains and one couplet at the end. Both rhymes and images change throughout the poem. The form of the poem is related to the subject matter because in Shakespearean sonnet each 4 lines have different patterns, and these patterns have different images, in the last 2 lines, he approaches from a different perspective.

Shakespeare’s 104th sonnet represents several meanings. It repeatedly tells the person being read to in the sonnet about his/her beauty, and how the time cannot affect it. Time typically changes one’s beauty, physically and/or internally, which does not apply to the person in the sonnet. Shakespeare writes with a lot of figurative language, and many symbolic words.

Shakespearean sonnets, also known as Elizabethan sonnets, were sonnets that Shakespeare used quite often. Shakespearean sonnets (Elizabethan sonnets) consist of fourteen lines, has an iambic pentameter rhythm, and has three quatrains and one couplet. A quatrain is a type of stanza that consists of four lines. A couplet is two lines of a verse. The quatrains in Shakespearean sonnets have alternating end rhymes and the couplet is rhymed. Having end rhyme in a poem creates a rhyming pattern so the