The Sonnet Form and Its Meaning: Shakespeare's Sonnet 65

This expression shows how Shakespeare believes love should see flaws but be able to overlook them. Shakespeare uses the form of an English sonnet, more commonly known as the Shakespearean sonnet, to communicate his thoughts. A Shakespearean sonnet "is organized into three quatrains and a couplet, which typically rhyme abab cdcd efef gg" (Meyer, p.917). Additionally, within these sonnet styles "the most pronounced break or turn comes with the concluding couplet" (Meyer, p.917).

Shakespeare follows the English style of sonnets, while Collins partially follows the Petrarchan style. Both sonnets include fourteen lines, a defining feature of the sonnet form. “My mistress’ eyes are…” consists of three quatrains that describes his argument on love cliches, and ends with a couplet, the turning point of English sonnets. The sonnet consists of ten syllables each line, following the rhythm of the iambic pentameter rule. Shakespeare’s sonnet follows the usual rhyme scheme of an English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. Collins attempts to stray from the general sonnet principles in contrast with Shakespeare. “Sonnet” loosely follows the Petrarchan style, as the lines are grouped into one octave and one sestet in structure. Collins’s “Sonnet” does not have a rhyme scheme, nor does the poem follow iambic pentameter. His sonnet does, however, present his turn in line 9, the beginning of the sestet. Collins begins poking fun at English sonnets in the octave, but then turns to joke at Petrarchan forms. Both sonnets have a lighthearted, humorous tone and parody classic styles of sonnets in different ways.

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.

reflects the form. (Submit copies of the sonnets, marked to show your analysis). –My three sonnets that have been marked consist of two Shakespearean sonnets and one Petrarchan sonnet. For Shakespearean sonnets, there are three quatrains and a couplet; the couplet makes the final statement

The statue is an extremely lifelike rendering of a human, with carefully carved clothing, a face full of expression, and even glasses. Somehow, “Father Time” is still, by the denotative understanding, not alive. Also, since he is a statue, by nature, “Father Time” should be immobile, but as is noticeable, he does move. These paradoxes are paralleled in the poem, “Time Is”, because it is obvious that a single person can experience more than one of the given emotions at once. For example, a soldier’s spouse, could, simultaneously experience fear, for their husband or wife’s life, and love, toward the same person. In the poem, it is written that time is “Too Swift for those who Fear”, but also “for those who Love, Time is not” (Lines 2, 5, and 6). Now if someone was fearing and loving, according to the poem, they would not experience time. Yet they still are experiencing time, because for them, time is “Too Swift”. In this way, both “Time Is”, and “Father Time” present impossibilities to their

Throughout the story there are several symbols that lead the reader to believe that time is lost. Even though fear is the main objective of time being lost the narrator provides several other

   Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare is widely read and studied. But what is Shakespeare  trying to say? Though it seems there will not be a simple answer, for a better understanding of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, this essay offers an explication of the sonnet from The Norton Anthology of English Literature:

‘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 the poets’ experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love which never seems to wither away according to Shakespeare 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.

Poets and authors alike evoke emotion and pictures from one single word. The imagery and thoughts put into the readers’ heads by these different writers are the base of one’s creativity and imagination while reading the author’s work of art. William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known poets of all time that is able to elicit these emotions from the reader to allow the reader to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to accomplish with his poems. Shakespeare keeps his audience entertained with a whopping 154 sonnets, each having a different meaning and imagery associated with it. Sonnet 18, “[Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day]”, and Sonnet 55, “[Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments]”, are both one of Shakespeare’s most famous works. Shakespeare uses these sonnets to explore the powerful relationship between humanity, art, and time.

One of William Shakespeare's tools from his choices of words was figurative diction since most words used to describe the narrator’s mistress were based in comparing her to other objects. For example, the poem starts with the narrator using the words “eyes”, “like”, “nothing”, and “sun”. The narrator introduces an example of a simile from the figurative choice of words since the word “like” is been used to compare her to something else. In this case he's comparing the sun’s brightness to the dull light of his mistress's eyes and the eyes are important because they are the door to the soul. Then in line 2 from Sonnet 130, the narrator says that the color of the coral outcast more “her lip’s red”. This is an example of a metaphor since the narrator

The ending couplet sums up the main idea of the sonnet. It continues with the image of eternity and the memory of the addressee. When Shakespeare writes “So, till the judgment that yourself arise / you live in this and dwell in lovers eyes” there is still an emphasis on the word of the poem itself.

Ultimately, Shakespeare expresses his own feelings and opinions through the sonnet. His usage of language techniques helps him do so. Love is shown to be not only a quality, but it is personified as a perfect, unchanging thing, unaffected by time. Shakespeare has really proved himself to be a prolific writer and extraordinarily capable poet as result of this

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.

     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.

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