Sonnet 30 Figurative Language

Like the saying," Time heals the wounds," we as humans, tend to find

ways to disguise the anguish we truly feel. In sonnet 30 Shakespeare shows how

the speaker is suffering and his/her time of despair. The speakers sorrowful

remembrance of dead friends are quelled only by thoughts of his friend, this

shows how the speaker is dependent of this lost friend to console him at the time

of loss. Through alliteration, legalistic vocabulary and emotions of his friend the

speaker is able to convey his depression and deepest sentiment.

In this sonnet, the speaker emphasizes alliteration in the first

lines, "Sessions of sweet silent… I summon up… I sigh." The speaker's form of

alliteration enhances the feel and rhyme
Through these

images the speaker uses gives the reader a sense of the mood he/ she is in,

which seems to be desolate and resilient.

There is a lot of legalistic and financial vocabulary that is used in the

sonnet, for example," account and new pay." The word "summons" suggests a

the sitting of a court. In today's vocabulary "summons" suggest something

received and usually bad. We still use phrases such as sessions in connection

with legal sittings, and court room sessions. The court imagery is continued with

"summon up" in the following line. The words "expense" and "account" and "pay"

suggest accounting. There is a reference to loss and also possible hyperbole at

the end. I think the speaker is trying to makes reference to the fact that because

of his loss, things have to be accounted for and his pain is in a way how he is

paying for his losses. He/she grieves again and again for his/her "account", as he

is repaying by mourning and crying over the loss of dead friends.

The newness of his grief is contrasted with the time of his sorrows, which,

to heighten his sense of misery, he resurrects. For example in line four,