Shakespeare's Sonnet 55
Like many sonnets Shakespeare has written, this poem focuses on a theme of a special someone's memory living on forever in his written word. I find it interesting that in many of the poems we have read so far, the authors actually mention that they are conciously writing the sonnet itself. This strikes me as quite odd because I always thought poetry had to be secretive, written especially well, and make a point without knowing about itself. Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense. It just surprises me when I read a sonnet and it says something like, "Oh, I'm writing this because blah blah blah..." I guess I just wouldn't write one myself about the sonnet itself. But of course, on to the analyzing.
I'll first start with my favorite type of figurative language: Alliteration. This is used in every single line of Sonnet 55. And like always, it is used to point out the key words in a line. For example, the first two lines are: "not marbe, nor the guilded monuments/ Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme." Shakespeare alliterates the two words being compared in each line. Marble and monuments are the main ideas in the first line, which Shakespeare is ultimately comparing to the longevity of his sonnet. The second line alliterates the words princes and powerful which sound like they should go together, but the two words are actually separate for once. A prince should have a lot of power (notice Shakespeare uses the word prince as opposed to king to alliterate with powerful) yet it is the ryhme in his poem that he believes has the most. A poem and the person it is written about does not die until everyone stops reading it. I believe this is what Shakespeare is really trying to get across.
Throughout most of this sonnet, a great deal of comparison gets used. Basically we understand that the sonnet is to outstand anything in the world that is thought to be powerful and/or withstanding. In line five, we get a taste of anastrophe for emphasis on a particular word. It says "When wasteful war shall statues overturn." In using this, Shakespeare exemplifies the word statues as another comparison for what he believes cannot out stand his sonnet. And I must point out, is not only the poem that Shakespeare wants to live on forever, it is the women (or man?!) he speaks about. It is the unnamed women (or man?!) we've heard of in the other works previously read for class. We know this because the person in mentioned in several lines, but I find the couplet at the end the most important, which says, "So, till the judgment that yourself arise,/ You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes (13-14). Here Shakespeare is saying that the love he has for this person will make her/him live on until all people reach Judgement Day, which will take all humans off the earth. As long as there are lovers around they will be reading this sonnet. Shakespeare makes this point in many of his sonnets, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I think it's vastly amazing because of the truth it speaks. Who ever he was writing about, even though we don't know exactly who, still exists because we're reading this sonnet still. Not only is it rich with poetic devises, but its theme of the power of words and their everlasting effect is incredible. I happen to be a fan of Shakespeare, and the more I read the more I get from him.
Like many sonnets Shakespeare has written, this poem focuses on a theme of a special someone's memory living on forever in his written word. I find it interesting that in many of the poems we have read so far, the authors actually mention that they are conciously writing the sonnet itself. This strikes me as quite odd because I always thought poetry had to be secretive, written especially well, and make a point without knowing about itself. Maybe that doesn't make a lot of sense. It just surprises me when I read a sonnet and it says something like, "Oh, I'm writing this because blah blah blah..." I guess I just wouldn't write one myself about the sonnet itself. But of course, on to the analyzing.
I'll first start with my favorite type of figurative language: Alliteration. This is used in every single line of Sonnet 55. And like always, it is used to point out the key words in a line. For example, the first two lines are: "not marbe, nor the guilded monuments/ Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme." Shakespeare alliterates the two words being compared in each line. Marble and monuments are the main ideas in the first line, which Shakespeare is ultimately comparing to the longevity of his sonnet. The second line alliterates the words princes and powerful which sound like they should go together, but the two words are actually separate for once. A prince should have a lot of power (notice Shakespeare uses the word prince as opposed to king to alliterate with powerful) yet it is the ryhme in his poem that he believes has the most. A poem and the person it is written about does not die until everyone stops reading it. I believe this is what Shakespeare is really trying to get across.
Throughout most of this sonnet, a great deal of comparison gets used. Basically we understand that the sonnet is to outstand anything in the world that is thought to be powerful and/or withstanding. In line five, we get a taste of anastrophe for emphasis on a particular word. It says "When wasteful war shall statues overturn." In using this, Shakespeare exemplifies the word statues as another comparison for what he believes cannot out stand his sonnet. And I must point out, is not only the poem that Shakespeare wants to live on forever, it is the women (or man?!) he speaks about. It is the unnamed women (or man?!) we've heard of in the other works previously read for class. We know this because the person in mentioned in several lines, but I find the couplet at the end the most important, which says, "So, till the judgment that yourself arise,/ You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes (13-14). Here Shakespeare is saying that the love he has for this person will make her/him live on until all people reach Judgement Day, which will take all humans off the earth. As long as there are lovers around they will be reading this sonnet. Shakespeare makes this point in many of his sonnets, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I think it's vastly amazing because of the truth it speaks. Who ever he was writing about, even though we don't know exactly who, still exists because we're reading this sonnet still. Not only is it rich with poetic devises, but its theme of the power of words and their everlasting effect is incredible. I happen to be a fan of Shakespeare, and the more I read the more I get from him.
posted by Melissa | 7:56 PM
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