Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Structure of a Sonnet 14 line poem Themes not limited to love Meter = iambic pentameter 5 iambic feet 10 syllable lines, short syllable followed by long; unstressed followed by stressed Chin test: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM Rule-breaker

Structure of a Sonnet 3 quatrains,1 couplet Quatrain 1 & 2 presents problem Volta = turning point of the poem After the 2nd quatrain Quatrain 3 leads into resolution Couplet provides resolution/closure Rhyme scheme = abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Structure of a Sonnet 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: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Sonnet Subjects Fair Youth;1-126 Beautiful young man 1-17 = Procreation sonnets 41 & 42 = mistress has seduced FY 87-90 = poet’s insecurities 91-96 = reconciliation of the poet & FY Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton Patron of Shakespeare Financial support Dedications in Venus and Adonis & The Rape of Lucrece

Sonnet Subjects Dark Lady; 127-152 Mary Fitton? Sexual in content; opposite from FY sonnets Mary Fitton? Maid to Queen Elizabeth Married William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke 1609 dedication to Mr. WH “Dark” descriptions reference ethnicity or represent their relationship Lust, passion, jealousy, hatred, anger, paranoia

Sonnet Subjects Rival poet Cupid; 153 & 154 Christopher Marlowe or George Chapman Competition for fame or patronage FY sonnets Cupid; 153 & 154 Allegorical sonnets Allusion to mythology

Authorship Order of sonnets Printed with author’s consent? Titlepage = MR.W.H.“TO.THE.ONLIE.BEGETTER.OF./THESE.INSIVING.SONNETS.” Thomas Thorpe’s initials only “Mr. W.H.” unknown William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke Father of Mary Fitton’s child; scandal (DL?) Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton Fair Youth