Shakespeare's Sonnet
ANALYSIS
OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET
"A sonnet is a poetic form which originated in Italy; the Sicilian poet Giacomo Da Lentini is credited with its invention.[1] The term sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonetto (from Old Provençal sonet a little poem, from son song, from Latin sonus a sound). By the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme
and specific structure. Conventions associated with the sonnet have
evolved over its history. Writers of sonnets are sometimes called
"sonneteers", although the term can be used derisively."
a.
Meaning
(What is the poem about?)
To
interpret the meaning I think it is better off categorizing them based on
quatrain (a group of four lines) for the first three quatrain and couplet (2
lines) and then paraphrasing them.
We want to create
something fair, raise and grow something beautiful, So the beauty of nature
will not fade and disappear
Someday someone or people will pass away, There should be heir or successor
Someday someone or people will pass away, There should be heir or successor
But you only think of
your own beauty, You are obsessed of beauty in life
You make yourself suffer while you can actually be happy, You are an enemy of yourself, too cruel to yourself
You make yourself suffer while you can actually be happy, You are an enemy of yourself, too cruel to yourself
You are now a young
person in the world, As appears beautiful and pleasant
You bury your own
beauty without sharing, Turning you into unpleasant and wasting time
Do what the nature
wants (by having successor or heir) or you are regarded as greedy and selfish and
grave takes your beauty in your death
Poem Meaning:
This poetry is somehow about selfishness
and greedy. It is addressed to young and beautiful man to have a family so
there is always a new generation to continue bloodline. It is shown by “From fairest creatures we desire increase,
that thereby beauty's rose might never die, but as the riper should by time
decease, His tender heir might bear his memory” Young person is considered
as generation who bring life better as associated with spring which denotes new and pleasant situation (Thou that art now the world's fresh
ornament, and only herald to the gaudy spring). By having family and
children he can share his love and his children will continue his generation.
But this man seems to have narcissistic side in which in the poem he is
described as a very prideful man who is obsessed with his own beauty and keeps
wasting time, (Within thine own bud buriest thy content, And, tender churl, makest
waste in niggarding). He himself
is strongly recommended to get married so he can share his memory and joy to
others instead of being single for the rest of his life burying his memory
alone and regarded as selfish and greedy (Pity
the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and
thee.)
b.
The
form and the organization of the poem (How does the poem organization into its stanza
signify the organization of ideas put in the poem?)
Cambridge states that Sonnet is
a poem with 14 lines, written in a particular pattern. Like in the first question,
Sonnet is usually divided into four groups called quatrains. The first three
quatrains consist of four lines and use an alternating rhyme scheme. The final
quatrain consists of just two lines which have same rhyme known as couplet. Each
quatrain should progress the poem as follows:
1.
First quatrain:
An introduction the subject in the
sonnet. Shakespeare introduces a man as this poem is addressed to as a
subject that lacks of heir. He is asked to have a family so the children can
continue his bloodline. Somehow Shakespeare symbolizes this young man with womanly
attribute like beauty’s rose which is
unique since there is no woman is mentioned in the poem.
2.
Second quatrain: Introduction of the sonnet’s theme.
Shakespeare describes this young man as a selfish which contribute to the theme
of the poem. This young man is praised by Shakespeare with his beauty of
physical body (bright eyes) but by having the gift this young man starts
building a selfish and excessive self-pride and tend to avoid reproduction.
Shakespeare represents him as a young man of candle-like who is burned by its
own flame (self-pride) that leads to famine (incomplete and unhappy) instead of
abundance that is why he is literally an enemy for himself.
3.
Third quatrain:
It strengthens the sonnet’s theme. The
theme of selfishness and greedy is strongly constructed in this stanza. In the
beginning, the young man is considered as potential young man as "Fresh"
may refer to new, young, and beautiful and "Now" refers to the young
man soon should be the heir or should have family and children to inherit the
bloodline. The young man brings life
and growth similar as spring. But the young man choose to keep his beauty (bud)
and life to himself, instead of letting the world see his beauty blooming as he
describes wasting time.
4.
Couplet:
It may refer to a conclusion to the
sonnet. The couplet concludes a young man with a threat of a miserable death
and emptiness without heir or successor to carry on legacy if he chooses not to
have a family. The way the speaker says to this young man is both threatening
and praising at the same time so Shakespeare develops paradox pattern in this
stanza. So the man may be considered as the beloved one as he is described with
beauty’s rose, bud, spring, and tender all in good way but still is insisted in
a bad way to follow the nature to bear a child to have an heir or successor.
c.
Sound
devices that make up the poetic composition (accent, rhythm, foot, meter, rhyme, stanza form, diction, assonance,
onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition) you find in the poem.
1.
Stanza
Form
Cambridge
states that Sonnet is a poem with 14
lines, written in a particular pattern. Like in the first question, Sonnet
is usually divided into four groups called quatrains.
The first three quatrains consist of four lines and use an alternating rhyme
scheme. The final quatrain consists of just two lines which have same rhyme
known as couplet.
First
Quatrain with number of lines: 4.
From
fairest creatures we desire increase,
That
thereby beauty's rose might never die
But
as the riper should by time decease,
His
tender heir might bear his memory:
Second
Quatrain with number of lines: 4.
But
thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st
thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance
lies,
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self
too cruel
Third
Quatrain with number of lines: 4.
Thou that art
now the world's fresh ornament,
And only herald
to the gaudy spring
Within
thine own bud buriest thy content,
And,
tender churl, makest waste in niggarding
Couplet with number of lines: 2.
Pity the world, or else
this glutton be,
To eat the world's due,
by the grave and thee.
2.
Rhyme
The rhyme
scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB / CDCD / EFEF / GG.
First
Quatrain with Rhyme Scheme: ABAB
From
fairest creatures we desire increase,
That
thereby beauty's rose might never die
But
as the riper should by time decease,
His
tender heir might bear his memory:
Second
Quatrain with Rhyme Scheme: CDCD
But
thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st
thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self
too cruel
Third
Quatrain with Rhyme Scheme: EFEF
Thou that art
now the world's fresh ornament,
And only herald
to the gaudy spring
Within
thine own bud buriest thy content,
And,
tender churl, makest waste in niggarding
Couplet with Rhyme Scheme: GG
Pity the world, or else
this glutton be,
To eat the world's due,
by the grave and thee.
3.
Rhythm,
Foot, and Meter
Sonnets
are written in iambic pentameter,
according to Mugijatna a poetic meter with 10 beats or syllables (five pairs or
feet) per line made up of five alternating unstressed and stressed syllables. So
the rhythm of the poem goes from the stressed syllables, so it’s like ba-Beat! ba-Beat!
From fair! | est crea! | tures we! | desire! | increase!
That there! | by beau! | ty's rose! | might ne! | ver die!
4.
Diction
Shakespeare deliberately
reflects unique diction in which some expressions are different from the
lexical meaning (figuratively constructed). The expressions consist of praise and
threat. For example he expresses the bloodline with beauty’s rose which reflects the appraisal and idolatry of the
speaker and the young man. It is supported by showing his tender heir, thine bright eyes, and world’s fresh ornament. The
riper means the old people or old generation who needs young to set the
world better as the young man is described with spring which is the most waited and pleasant situation.
The speaker also
concerns on the young man to continue his bloodline but ends up criticizing
that the young man is so selfish and stubborn choosing to be alone and
threatening him if he still buries his own bud
(which may refer to his semen, a material in baby formation) and not want to
have family and children he will suffer from famine (emptiness) instead of sharing abundance (happiness) and end up by beauty swallowed by grave (death).
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