WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William
Shakespeare was born in London and spent his childhood there. He received some
formal Education. Suddenly he appeared
in London in connection with the theatre, and spent most of his life there
writing for the stage. He spent the last few years of his life in his native
town without any literary activity.
Shakespeare
is the greatest playwright England ever produce, and his sonnets are among the
best in the English language. The poetry of his plays, though written primarily
for the stage, and often with a certain actor in mind, is characterized by
variety of style, subject matter, and mood. His language can soft tender at
other times. It is easy to detect certain verbosity in his poetry at certain
times, while in others, especially in his later plays, his language tends to be
condensed, almost terse, and both thought and feeling are revealed in brief,
but clear image and description. Since he tried "to suit the word to the
deed", his style can be high, middle, or low and even vulgar. With a sharp
mind and intense imagination he was able to see into the complexities of human
nature. His poetry also reveals wide knowledge of man in various social,
political, or moral situations
If
his plays reveal the greatness of his dramatic poetry, his sonnets are a record
of his great lyrical power. He brought the English sonnet into perfection, hence it is called the
Shakespearian sonnet. It consists of Three quatrains and a final couplet. While
a single is developed in the three quatrain the final couplet is conclusion
that clinches the meaning or a twist in meaning which stands in contrast to the
idea developed in the three quatrain.
The
theme of Shakespeare's sonnet are death, love, immortality of poetry, and the
vicissitude of life, and time. They are the most personal poems Shakespeare
ever wrote, yet they tell us about his life. In these sonnets the plain and the
ornate styles are to be found. The power of feeling, the depth of thought, and
intense imagination are all to be found in these sonnets.
Paraphrasing
In this sonnet,
Shakespeare intended immortalize his friend W.H through poetry. For him, poetry
will last longer than the greet monuments which where built to immortalize king
or prince. Shakespeare says that the memory of his friend will be immortalized
through his poetry because time will not affect his poetry and it will out-live
because time can affect only the material things like the marble and the
monument, but it can not effect poetry because it is kept in books and in the
minds of the people. The great monuments are neglected, they are besmeared by
time. They are often placed in open place, so, they are affected by the
weather, rain, sun, storms…etc, and hence they lost their bright and became
grime and dirty, also they will be ruined.
Also the statues
and masonry will be ruined and destroyed by wars and civil disturbance, but the
poet says that not even the sword of Mars (the god of war) not the wars fire
could burn or destroy "the living record" of his friends memory. Also
his friends memory will not be affected by the oblivion that comes with enmity
and death, built will lasts and finds room in the minds' of the coming
generation and it will last till. Judgment day Shakespeare says that till
memory of poems. Judgment day comes, his friend memory will lives in his poem
and he will dwell in the lover's eyes because the lovers when they read the
sonnet as an expression of their own feeling for each other. They will think of
the object of Shakespeare affection. In brief, the whole poem is like a firm declaration
of the durability of love and art. The poet believed that through poetry he
will immortalized his friend until judgment day.
Not
marble, nor the gilded monuments (1): This line is likely an allusion to the
lavish tombs of English royalty; in particular, to the tomb of Henry VII in
Westminster Abbey, which contains a large sarcophagus made of black marble with
gilded effigies of King Henry and his queen, Elizabeth of York.
with
sluttish time (4): i.e., by filthy time.
In Elizabethan England the word
"sluttish" could describe either a sexually promiscuous woman or a
grubby, unkempt woman. Here Shakespeare personifies Time as the latter.
broils
(7): angry, violent quarrels or riots.
all-oblivious
enmity (9): i.e., the war and decay that would render the subject of the poem
forgotten.
Sonnet 55 is one of Shakespeare's most famous
works and a noticeable deviation from other sonnets in which he appears
insecure about his relationships and his own self-worth. Here we find an
impassioned burst of confidence as the poet claims to have the power to keep
his friend's memory alive evermore.
However, many believe that such an analysis
ignores Shakespeare's paramount desire to immortalize his friend in verse, and
not himself (as was the motive of most classical poets). "The Romans say:
Because of my poem I will never die. Shakespeare says: Because of my poem you
will never die....What distinguishes Shakespeare is that he values the identity
of the beloved; he recognizes that the beloved has his own personal
immortality, in no way dependent on poetry" (Martin, 158). By focusing on
the word live, Shakespeare uses the language itself to emphasize his authorial
intentions. Notice the word choices of outlive (2), living (8), oblivious (9),
and live (14).
The
Theme
The theme of the sonnet is the immortalizing
power of poetry. It is a stock theme which had been treated by many poets, but
nearly all of them were mainly concerned with their own fame in the future,
while Shakespeare uniquely thinks of poetry as a means to an end. He is not
concerned with his own personal glory.
Organization
The
sonnet is divided into three parts.
In
the first part (lines 1-4), in which
Shakespeare speaks about the marble and monument of great men. He recalls
ornate lambs in English church. He personifies time as a sluttish woman who
allows the monuments to be besmeared with dust and grim.
In
the second part (lines 5-8), he speaks
about something which is more dangerous, than more neglect, it is the wars and
civil disturbance which destroy and ruin the statues and the masonry.
In
the third part (lines 9-12), the poet
speaks about the immortalization of the memory of his friend and how it will
outlast the oblivion that comes with enmity and death. He concerned about his
poetry as a means to immortalized his friend.
Language
Elements in the Sonnet
1.
Rhyme scheme:
The
sonnet rhymed abab, cdcd, efef, gg. This a typical English sonnet.
2.
Rhythm and Meter
The
sonnet is written in Iambic pentameter lines.
3.
Poetic Devices
a.
sound devices
Alliteration
The
lines of the sonnet are knit together by alliterated initial letters
e.g:
Marble/ monuments - prince/ powerful.. etc.
Assonance
Alliteration in the sonnet is supported by
assonance as when "Mars" echoed in the same line by "wars" and
"pace" by "praise".. etc.
Meaning
devices
in the fourth line "Time" is
personified as a sluttish woman who allows the marble and monuments to be
besmeared with dust and grim, and in line six, "broils" is
personified as a person who rout out the work of masonry.
The imagery of the sonnet is magnificently
concrete as the words "besmeared" in line 4, "rout out" in
line 6, and "pace forth" in line 10 exemplify.
