SELECTED SONNET FOR ANALYSIS:įrom fairest creatures we desire increase,

It is important to note here that, while the subject of Spenser’s sonnets was his desired female lover, Shakespeare was addressing his poems to a young man. While Spenser shows in Amoretti that he values true beauty, which he portrays as a person’s God-given traits of moral virtue and intelligence, Shakespeare champions physical beauty that is portrayed through a person’s looks. Regarding the theme of time, Shakespeare asserts that only love and poetry (or another type of writing) are the only phenomena that can counter time. His sonnets focus on physical beauty rather than intellectual beauty. He asserts the value of eternalizing beauty through reproduction and by passing it down through generations. In many of his poems that are written to the young man, Shakespeare (the narrator) is demonstrating the theme of the importance of reproduction. In addition, Shakespeare’s sonnets focus on the power of time, and how time can wither away beauty. First of all, love is seen as a common theme, as it was in many of the Elizabethan sonnets. Various themes exist in Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence. It is noteworthy to point out that Shakespeare is never afraid to portray nature in a distasteful manner.Īn inside view of the Globe Theater (2012) Shakespeare uses many nature-oriented metaphors in his sonnets. Therefore, the order in which they were published might not have been the order in which Shakespeare had written them. In addition, Shakespeare’s sonnets typically have three distinct quatrains, each of which often is constructed with a separate metaphor and a closing couplet that ties everything together.Īs for the larger structure of the sonnet sequence, it is important to note that, as Shakespeare provided no explanation for the intentions behind his sonnets, the order in which he intended them to appear is unknown. Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of 14 lines, each written in iambic pentameter and most with the traditional rhyme scheme of the English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE IN SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS: Shakespeare’s sonnets helped to increase his prominence as a poet with a unique style. In addition, some of the later sonnets in the series are written about a Dark Lady and focus on degrading sexual desires. In these sonnets, Shakespeare is reiterating to the young man that it is his duty to marry and have kids, urging him to reproduce so that his physical beauty will be eternalized through future generations.

The vast majority of these sonnets are addressed to an unnamed attractive young man who represents beauty, love, and praise. Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence is comprised of 154 sonnets that were published in 1609. Title Page of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609)

Are sonnets in iambic pentameter