William Shakespeare The World’s Greatest Playwright & Poet

The Sonnet in the Renaissance There are two dominating sonnet forms during the Renaissance Petrarchan or Italian sonnet 14 lines – one stanza first 8 lines are called the Octave next two lines are called the Volta the last four lines are called the sestet Italian sonnet is perfect for two-part statement: question-answer Problem-solution Theme-comment The Volta (usually the 9 th line serves as a “Turn” to prepare the reader for the second part of the statement standard rhyme scheme =abba abba cc deed

The Sonnet in the Renaissance There are two dominating sonnet forms during the Renaissance Shakespearean or English sonnet 14 lines – one stanza first 8 lines are called the Question and Tentative Answers next four lines are called the Turn the last two lines are called The Couplet (Final Answer to Question) standard rhyme scheme = abab cdcd efef gg

Shakespeare’s Sonnets – important facts Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets – almost all of them love poems Sonnets are addressed to an unidentified young man with outstanding physical and intellectual attributes The first 17 of these urge the young man to marry so that he can pass on his superior qualities to a child – such allowing future generations to appreciate the qualities of this young man. Sonnet 18 – Shakespeare alters his viewpoint, saying his own poetry may be all that is necessary to immortalize the young man and his qualities. There is speculation that Shakespeare wrote to the “young man” in his sonnets as the voice of a young woman, but there is no strong evidence of that information.

Sonnets – important facts (Cont.) Shakespeare wrote his sonnets in London in the 1590’s during an outbreak of the plague that closed the theaters and prevented playwrights (like Shakespeare) from staging their dramas. Sonnets 127 – 154, Shakespeare devotes most of his attention to addressing a mysterious “dark lady”– a sensuous, irresistible woman of questionable morals who captivates the poet. For centuries, literature detectives have pored over old texts and documents to determine the identities of the “young man”, the mysteries “dark lady” and the “rival poet” that the sonnets are addressed to. So far, no one has produced enough evidence to identify any of the individuals. There is even speculation that the poems were Shakespeare’s way of creating another drama!

Sonnets – important facts (Cont.) Regardless of who the “voice of the poem” was in each sonnet, Shakespeare proved that he was a powerful poet using the English sonnet form. Few poets have been able to rival Shakespeare mastery of English poetry

7 Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter is the rhythm and metre in which poets and playwrights wrote in Elizabethan England. It is a metre that Shakespeare uses.

8 Heartbeat. Quite simply, it sounds like this: dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM, dee DUM. It consists of a line of five iambic feet, ten syllables with five unstressed and five stressed syllables. It is the first and last sound we ever hear, it is the rhythm of the human heart beat.

9 Pentameter? Well an ‘iamb’ is ‘dee Dum’ – it is the heart beat. Penta is from the Greek for five. Meter is really the pattern So, there are five iambs per line! (Iambic penta meter )

Sonnet #30 When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste: Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow, For precious friends hid in death's dateless night, And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe, And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight: Then can I grieve at grievances foregone, And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan, Which I new pay as if not paid before. But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Quatrain One: ABAB When to the season of sweet silent thoughtA I summon up remembrance of things pastB I sigh the lack of many a thing I soughtA And with old woes’ new wail my dear times wasteB Shakespeare is thinking to himself, and mournfully regretting that he has not been able to achieve all the things he wanted to in life.

Quatrain Two: CDCD Then can I drown an eye, unused to flowC For precious friends hid in death’s dateless nightD And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woeC And moan the expense of many a vanished sightD Shakespeare tells us that he cries….cries about memories, and specifically of the specific people and things he has lost that have been dear to him.

Quatrain Three: EFEF Then can I grieve at grievances foregoneE And heavily from woe to woe tell o’erF The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan (slant)E Which I new pay as if not paid before F Shakespeare will continue to grieve over his losses, over his regrets and over his sad memories. The sadness seems to get increasingly worse.

Concluding Couplet: GG But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,G All losses are restored and sorrows end.G To remedy his sadness and regrets, Shakespeare chooses to think about a dear friend. The thought of this friend brings him warmness and happiness.

Using the sheet with the two remaining sonnets, work with a partner to determine what the poem is saying. This is hard work trying to figure out what Shakespeare meant in these poems, but you can use your notes and the examples that we did.

Sonnet 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Platonic Love: When 2 people bond intellectually, they Should not allow impediments (problems, personal flaws, etc.) to come b/t them Love is not love if impediments separate them bends … remove: weakens or succumbs to these impediments in response to an offense by the other person (remover) This poem is addressed to the Unidentified Young Man

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Platonic Love: Metaphor Compares the constancy of real love during difficult times to the constancy of a star that guides ships Worth’s, height: one knows a star is high but does not know its composition This poem is addressed to the Unidentified Young Man

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Platonic Love: Time It can’t alter true love although, with his sickle, he can cut down youth (rosy lips and cheeks). Love It remains constant until doomsday This poem is addressed to the Unidentified Young Man

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Platonic Love: Therefore: If my observations are proven wrong, I never wrote a word of poetry and never loved. Message: If a person discovers impediments hampering his relationship with another person, he shouldn’t alter his love for that person. On the contrary, his love should remain fixed and constant, like a star that guides ships in a storm. In addition, his love should remain strong even when youth passes – in fact, “even to the edge of doom”

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Unconventional Love: He is underplaying her beauty Says her eyes are nothing like the sun Her lips are a pale pink- orange and her skin is a dull color So, is he saying she is not beautiful or is he saying she is beautiful in a different way? In a conventional love poem, the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is: My mistress’ eyes are more fantastic than the sun Her lips are a beautiful shade and her skin is as white as snow

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Unconventional Love: Gold wires were used in head-dress and compared to golden hair, Blondes were more highly rated Her cheeks have no life within them So, she is not conventionally beautiful. In a conventional love poem, the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is: Her hair is a beautiful shade of black and thick The blush on her cheeks is a beautiful, healthy glow

And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Unconventional Love: Smells – doesn’t have a negative connotation during Shakespeare’s time He’s not saying the smell of her breath is unpleasant – just that perfume smells sweeter He’s not being critical of her voice: he’s saying that music has a more pleasing sound In a conventional love poem, the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is: Now he has moved from her physical features to how she smells Her breath was sweeter than perfume Her voice was sweeter than music

I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Unconventional Love: His mistress walks like anyone else She walks on the ground, not floating through the air Therefore, she is no goddess In a conventional love poem, the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is: Now he is describing how she walks She should be described as a goddess

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. Understanding an unconventional love Sonnet Unconventional Love: The couplet reveals his true feelings This is an exceptional direct statement: He thinks she is as beautiful as any woman who is praised with false comparisons Meaning he doesn’t want to describe her in a cliché manner In a conventional love poem, the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is: So, does he think that his mistress is beautiful? The couplet sums up his feelings This entire sonnet is in reference to the Dark Lady