Download Shakespearean Sonnets

Shakespearean
Sonnets
• Most common theme of his sonnets was love
• Much debate about his sonnets; is it about himself or
a fictional man?
– We know who they were intended for; young man or
dark lady
• Sonnets express profound emotion
Sonnet Form
• Formal organization and logical flow
• 14 line poem that uses iambic pentameter
• 3 quatrains followed by 1 couplet (Do the math:
3x4=12, 12+2=14)
• Iambs-metrical feet (unit of measure) one
unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable
• The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg
Sonnet 18
• On page 391,
read sonnet 18 and
answer the
following questions
on a sheet of paper.
Write in complete
sentences.
Questions:
1. Describe a temperate climate.
2. Explain the following: line 4:
summer’s lease, line 5: hot eye of
heaven, line 6: gold complexion
dimmed
3. How does the 9th line provide
a different view of the sonnets
central theme?
4. What new idea is introduced
in the couplet?
5. In the last line, what is this
referring to?
Sonnet 18 Review
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•
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The quatrains express related ideas (metaphors)
and the couplets summarize the poem
There is always a turn, a shift in thought (line 9)
The narrator is comparing his lover to what?
Answers
1. Describe a temperate climate.
Moderate climate with distinct seasons. Cold, dry winters and hot, rainy summers
2. Explain the following: line 4: summer’s lease, line 5:
hot eye of heaven, line 6: gold complexion dimmed
– Summer’s duration; comparison to season’s length
– The sun
– When the sun is behind the clouds
3. How does the 9th line provide a different view of the sonnets
central theme?
The first two quatrains describe how nature’s beauty fades. Line 9 begins with the
transition BUT, which indicates a change in theme….then states that the
beauty of the speaker’s love will never fade.
Answers Continued
4. What new idea is introduced in the couplet?
The couplet shifts focus to the poet, stating that his
writing will immortalize his beloved
5. In the last line, what is this referring to?
THIS is referring to the poem
Translation of Sonnet 18
Shall I compare you to a summer's day?
You are more lovely and more constant:
Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May
And summer is far too short:
At times the sun is too hot,
Or often goes behind the clouds;
And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty,
By misfortune or by nature's planned out course.
But your youth shall not fade,
Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;
Nor will death claim you for his own,
Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.
So long as there are people on this earth,
So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.
Sonnet 130
Questions:
Conceits- an extended
metaphor
1. What is unusual about the
speaker's description of his
On page 398, read Sonnet
beloved in this sonnet?
130 and answer the
2. How does the final couplet
following questions,
clarify the speaker’s attitude
continued on same sheet
toward his mistress?
of paper
3. What do you think Shakespeare’s
purpose in writing this sonnet?
Sonnet Review
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•
•
Mistress doesn’t mean the same as today’s mistress
Poem about physical beauty vs. internal beauty
Humorous tone
Answers
1. What is unusual about the speaker's description of his beloved in this sonnet?
It doesn’t matter to the speaker that she doesn’t have superficial beauty; he
loves her anyway
2. How does the final couplet clarify the speaker’s attitude toward his mistress?
She is not idealized. The speaker describes her as having ungainly features
3. What do you think Shakespeare’s purpose in writing this sonnet?
His purpose might have been to amuse readers by mocking trite
conceits, or to affirm that love exists between real-not
idealized-mean and women.
Translation of Sonnet 130
My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips;
If snow is white, then her breasts are a brownish gray;
If hairs are like wires, hers are black and not golden.
I have seen damask roses, red and white [streaked],
But I do not see such colors in her cheeks;
And some perfumes give more delight
Than the horrid breath of my mistress.
I love to hear her speak, but I know
That music has a more pleasing sound.
I've never seen a goddess walk;
But I know that my mistress walks only on the ground.
And yet I think my love as rare
As any woman who has been misrepresented by ridiculous comparisons.
Write your own sonnet!!
• Choose a subject…love is the most popular!
• Be sure to follow the sonnet format. 3 quatrains and
1 couplet
• You will share when you are finished!