Shakespeare’s Sonnets Not quite “much ado about nothing”

Shakespeare’s Sonnet #2 WHEN forty winters shall besiege thy brow And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, Will be a tottered weed of small worth held: Then being asked where all thy beauty lies, Where all the treasure of thy lusty days, To say within thine own deep-sunken eyes Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise. How much more prasie deserved thy beauty's use If thou couldst answer, 'This fair child of mine Shall sum my count and make my old excuse, ‘Proving his beauty by succession thine. This were to be new made when thou art old And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st cold.

RHYMING

Iambic Pentameter: what is it? An iambic “foot” is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / When forty winters shall besiege thy brow The symbol ˘/ is used to show an iambic foot. The “ ˘ ” shows the unstressed syllable and the “ / “ shows the stressed syllable.

Iambic Pentameter: What is it? Meter is the basic rhythm structure of a poem…”the beat” you hear when you read it Pentameter is meter that occurs 5 times in a line Iambic Pentameter is a poetry form that uses 5 iambic feet per line of the poem ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / When forty winters shall besiege thy brow

Notice that both “A” lines rhyme at the end. Rhyming Patterns Notice that both “A” lines rhyme at the end. Shakespeare’s Sonnets always following this rhyme scheme: A When forty winters shall beseige thy brow, B And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, A Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, B Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held: C Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies, D Where all the treasure of thy lusty days, C To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes, D Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise. E How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use, F If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine E Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,' F Proving his beauty by succession thine! G This were to be new made when thou art old, G And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold. Each sequence of four (ABAB) is called a QUATRAIN Sonnets will end in a couplet: what do you think that means?

What makes Shakespearean Sonnets Special? Written in Iambic Pentameter They are 14 lines long They have 3 quatrains and end in one couplet Follow the ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyming scheme… EVERY TIME!

IMAGERY

Siege “When forty winters shall beseige thy brow, And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field” (lines 1 and 2) Siege (noun): the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible. Shakespeare uses this image to battling with age to describe our battle with growing older

LIVERY “Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held” (lines 3 and 4) Livery (noun): characteristic dress, garb, or outward appearance Livery were beautiful, ceremonial clothes worn by servants and loyal men at arms Shakespeare is pointing out how livery, a form of beauty, should be admired Just like clothes, however, beauty will fade and pass away

TREASURE! Shakespeare equates beauty with something of value…i.e. something that should be saved and passed on to others Do you think beauty is so important?