1. Shakespeare’s sonnets
Janelle Korm
XI A

2. Origin of the Sonnet Originated in Sicily in the 13th Century
Italian word "sonetto," meaning "little song“
Early sonnets were set to music
The Italian poets Petrarch, Dante Alighieri

3. General information Wrote 154 sonnets Main topic – love
Wrote his sonnets in 1590’s during a plague
Sonnets 138 and 144 were published in 1599 in a poetry collection entitled The Passionate Pilgrime
The other sonnets were published in 1609 in Shake- speares [Shakespeare's] Sonnets

5. Iambic pentameter A poetry pattern in which each line has 10 syllables
beginning with an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable
Five pairs of syllables
I will not fail: 'tis twenty years till then.
I have forgot why I did call thee back.

7. Characters
Fair youth - an unnamed young man to whom sonnets are addressed.
Sonnets are addressed to a woman commonly known as the 'Dark Lady'
The Rival Poet - Christopher Marlowe or George Chapman.

8. Sonnet 144
Two loves I have, one comforting, the other despairing;
Which like two spirits do urge me on:
The better angel is a beautiful man,
The worser spirit [angel] is a woman of dark complexion.
With what would soon send me to hell, my female lover
Tempts my better lover away from me,
And wants to corrupt him and turn him into a devil,
Seducing him and his purity with her dark pride.
And whether my angel be turned into a fiend,
I cannot say for sure, although I suspect as much;
But both being away from me, and each friendly toward the other,
I guess one angel is in the other's hell:
But this I'll never know, and I'll live in doubt,
Until my bad angel drives away my good angel.
Two loves I have of comfort and despair, Which like two spirits do suggest me still: The better angel is a man right fair, The worser spirit a woman colour'd ill. To win me soon to hell*, my female evil Tempteth my better angel from my side, And would corrupt my saint to be a devil, Wooing his purity with her foul pride. And whether that my angel be turn'd fiend Suspect I may, but not directly tell; But being both from me, both to each friend, I guess one angel in another's hell: Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt, Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

9. Thank you for your attention!