Discuss the Timeless Quality of Shakespeare's Sonnets
Discuss the timeless quality of Shakespeare’s sonnets
Shakespeare’s sonnets are lively reflections on love and time, these two themes seem to be the principal themes of Shakespeare’s sonnets and he returns to them again and again each time exploring them in a lively and personal matter. The theme of love and time are two themes that are timeless and still today, appeal to the modern reader. Shakespeare reveals how nerve wracking a relationship can be, but he also shows how love is ultimately the answer to life’s troubles and woes. Chief among these woes is the passage of time. No other poet has so vividly described the passage of time and the horror that this can inspire. Shakespeare reflected on this throughout most of his sonnets, trying desperately to find a way to counter time’s destructive passage. Ultimately, love is pitted against time and in the sonnets there is always a lively battle and a question hanging over which will prevail. Throughout my study of Shakespeare’s sonnets I studied sonnet 18, 65, and 116 each of these sonnets had a timeless quality to them.
In the opening line of Sonnet 18 (‘shall I compare thee’) Shakespeare asks a question ‘shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” the poet is considering writing a poem that compares his loved one to a fine day in the summer time. Immediately we recognise that this is a subjective poem as he addresses his loved one directly. The first quatrain is filled with sibilant s-sounds enhancing the notion of a beautiful summer’s day. However Shakespeare decides that this is not an appropriate comparison as “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” the repetition of “more” accentuates the depth of feeling.
It is interesting to note that while positive images abound in the poem “summer’s day” “darling buds” Shakespeare juxtaposes these images with negative ideas “rough winds” “all to short a date”. Here Shakespeare focuses on the ageing process of the human being, an idea that obsessed him. In the second
Shakespeare’s sonnets are lively reflections on love and time, these two themes seem to be the principal themes of Shakespeare’s sonnets and he returns to them again and again each time exploring them in a lively and personal matter. The theme of love and time are two themes that are timeless and still today, appeal to the modern reader. Shakespeare reveals how nerve wracking a relationship can be, but he also shows how love is ultimately the answer to life’s troubles and woes. Chief among these woes is the passage of time. No other poet has so vividly described the passage of time and the horror that this can inspire. Shakespeare reflected on this throughout most of his sonnets, trying desperately to find a way to counter time’s destructive passage. Ultimately, love is pitted against time and in the sonnets there is always a lively battle and a question hanging over which will prevail. Throughout my study of Shakespeare’s sonnets I studied sonnet 18, 65, and 116 each of these sonnets had a timeless quality to them.
In the opening line of Sonnet 18 (‘shall I compare thee’) Shakespeare asks a question ‘shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” the poet is considering writing a poem that compares his loved one to a fine day in the summer time. Immediately we recognise that this is a subjective poem as he addresses his loved one directly. The first quatrain is filled with sibilant s-sounds enhancing the notion of a beautiful summer’s day. However Shakespeare decides that this is not an appropriate comparison as “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” the repetition of “more” accentuates the depth of feeling.
It is interesting to note that while positive images abound in the poem “summer’s day” “darling buds” Shakespeare juxtaposes these images with negative ideas “rough winds” “all to short a date”. Here Shakespeare focuses on the ageing process of the human being, an idea that obsessed him. In the second