Shakespeare Sonnet 71 Mood

A sonnet is a poem explaining a single idea, and usually contains 14 lines. They usually follow the rule of Iambic Pentameter while using any type of rhyming scheme. Shakespeare composed over 150 sonnets during his life and all of his sonnets appeared in a collection called “SHAKE-SPEARS SONNETS” in 1609. Shakespeare’s sonnets consist of three quatrains and are finished off with a couplet. Around the third quatrain his sonnets take a turn, which is when the mood of the poem changes for the better, taking a more optimistic approach. His sonnets speak of political events, love, beauty, and sex. In “Sonnet 71”, Shakespeare discusses the mourning of his beloved after his death.

The speaker of this sonnet appears to be an older man who doesn’t want his lover to mourn for him. The sonnet suggests that the speakers love is much younger than he is. Before the turn, the speaker has a very pessimistic tone, as seen in “From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell” (L. 4). Also the beginning has a very depressing tone, speaking of death in “No longer mourn for me when I am dead” (L.1).
However, after the turn, his attitude turns slightly better. He speaks of his lover’s “. . . Sweet Thoughts. . .,” showing that he thinks fondly of his beloved.

“Sonnet 71” contains lines that can have separate meanings.
In “Lest the wise world should look into your moan, and mock you with me after I am gone”, it is suggested the world is its own person. The world comforts her and treats her well while with the beloved, but with her back turned the beloved is being mocked. This also means that her friends and family, who are trying to comfort her to ease the pain, are actually making fun of her for having such an older husband. No one genuinely feels sorry for her. Shakespeare provides great imagery for this sonnet. When the “. . . surly sullen bell…” is mentioned, one can picture a church bell in the cathedral. In Line 10, “when I, perhaps, compounded am with clay,” the reader can picture a buried man. Also in line 12 when it is said, “But let your love even with my life decay” (Ln. 12) people picture something
decaying.

Shakespeare is successfully able to use alliteration to give the sonnet a unique sound when read. By using alliteration he is able to give emphasis to certain lines, and also helps the sonnet flow. In line two the “s” is stressed to give emphasis, “than you shall hear the surly sullen bell”(L.2). This allows the reader to thank harder about the surly sullen bell, which can allows one to think of tolling bells. Stressed “v’s” and “w’s” can be seen in line four, “from this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell. This line is used to highlight the wickedest of the world and the evil of the people that inhabit it. Also some assonance can be seen through the William Shakespeare’s name. In line one “when I am” can be a reference to William. Line three also suggests the same thing with “world that I am”. The theme of this sonnet is what to do after the speaker’s death. He doesn’t want his beloved to ever mourn for him, just so no one would think badly of him. He asks him to let his “love even with my life decay”. The speaker even goes to the extreme, asking him not to even speak of his name or even think about him.
Reading Shakespeare’s sonnets and Sonnet 71 has really given us a great opportunity to learn about poetry and how it is written. We used Shakespeare’s sonnets and related them to modern day songs. With the song we chose we made our very own Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespeare’s words, plays, and poems still live with us in modern day and open many new doors to our education