S HAKESPEAREAN S ONNETS English 9 Team

L EARNING TARGET I can recall three key elements of a Shakespearean sonnet. I can translate to modern English one Shakespearean sonnet.

S HAKESPEAREAN S ONNETS William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets; published in 1609 All of the sonnets are numbered, but are often referred to by the first line of the sonnet. Sonnets are addressed to a young man, the “Fair Youth” Sonnets are addressed to a woman referred to as the “Dark Lady” Sonnets refer to a little “love- god” named Cupid

S ONNETS  14 lines  Iambic pentameter  Rhyme scheme : abab cdcd efef gg This scheme means the 1 st and 3 rd lines rhyme, the 2 nd and 4 th lines rhyme, the 5 th and 7 th lines rhyme, etc.

I AMBIC PENTAMETER  Iamb: a foot of poetry consisting of two syllables; the first syllable is unstressed; the second syllable is stressed  Penta: prefix meaning five (5)  Iambic pentameter: five metrical feet of unstressed then stressed syllables

E XAMPLES 1.That time of year thou mayst in me behold u / u / u / u / u / That time of year thou mayst in me be hold 2. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? u / u / u / u / u / Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Q UATRAIN  Group of four lines in poetry, usually seen as a stanza or closely related set of lines  In Shakespearean sonnets, each of the three quatrains has a purpose: – Quatrain 1: Poses a problem or question – Quatrain 2: Expands on the problem or question – Quatrain 3: Presents an opposing view of or counterpoint to the problem or question

C OUPLET  Two poetic lines  In Shakespearean sonnets, the couplet usually answers the question posed in the first quatrain.

T ONE  Speaker’s attitude toward his subject matter  Examples of tone words: Happy, elated, thrilled Sad, morose, melancholic Bittersweet Celebratory Resigned

S UBJECT M ATTER  Idea the poem considers or explores  Subjects commonly found in Shakespearean sonnets: – Love – Beauty – Nature – Time – Death – Poetry, writing Look for how two or more subject matters in one sonnet work together to create theme or meaning.

S PEAKER The narrator of the poem. From whose point of view the poem is told. Consider what we learn about the narrator: gender, age, race, world-view

S ONNET 29 PERFORMED BY R UFUS W AINWRIGHT

S ONNET 18 Quatrain 1: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Problem: Can I compare the love of my life to a summer’s day, something that is usually great? But it’s not that great.

S ONNET 18 Quatrain 2 Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed; Expanding on the problem: It’s too hot in the summer, and it gets cloudy. Beauty also fades because of chance or time.

S ONNET 18 Quatrain 3 But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. Opposing view: But, your beauty will never fade, nor will death ever take you, when you will continue to grow in these poetic lines.

S ONNET 18 Couplet So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Answering the original problem: As long as man lives and breathes, this poem will give life to my love.

L ITERARY TERMS Soliloquy: a speech made by the character when s/he is alone on stage. These speeches reflect the character’s inner or private thoughts. Monologue: a speech made by a character directed at other characters who are on stage at the time. Aside: a line or two a character says to him/herself, much like the character thinking aloud. The audience, not the other characters, are intended to hear these lines.

R EVENGE PLAY Conventions: Crime committed (usually murder): duty laid to next of kin to avenge the murder Discovery of the murder: usually difficult for the avenger Obstacles to revenge Triumphant conclusion where murderer is appropriately “destroyed” Usually included (to appeal to the audience): Gore (lots of people die!) Ghost “Mad” scene

S UBJECT MATTERS OF H AMLET Family relationships Sex Mortality Corruption Loyalty Fate Afterlife Man and the universe Revenge Sanity