Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130 reminds me very much of Billy Collin’s poem “Litany” in that they both seem to make fun of other love poems, in which a lover is compared to various objects. The first quatrain discusses what the speaker’s mistress is not. Her eyes are nothing like the sun, her lips are not as red as coral, her breats are filthy when compared to snow, and her hair is like black wires. The second quantrain continues, the colors of roses are not in her cheeks, and perfumes smell better than her breath. The third quatrain claims that music sounds better than her voice and that she treads on the ground. The couplet ends the poem with stating that despite all these things, she is as special as any woman who other poets have written about with false comparisons. Although the sonnet sounds as if the speaker is insulting his mistress, I don’t believe that that was the intention of the writer. I believe the poem should be taken sarcastically, that the speaker is more making fun of other love poems rather than declaring his own beliefs.

Sonnet 116

Sonnet 116 takes on a favorite topic amongst poets: love. In the first quatrain, the writer says that people who love each other should be together, but that love isn’t love if it ever falters. The second quatrain continues saying that love is constant and unchanging, and the third quatrain states that not even time, which destroys beauty, can destory can love. The couplet closes with the indication that if what writer says is false, he never wrote it and no man ever loved. I can’t help but feel that after 116 sonnets, the writer may be growing a little tired of encouraging the subject to have children and running out reasons why he should procreate. That’s why I think he takes on the topic of love, a different perk to having children that might appeal to the subject. By showing him the beauty of love, maybe he can convince him to find love, and then have children with her.

Sonnet 87

Sonnet 87 adornes the subject with compliments, making the speaker sound almost desperate in tone. In the first quatrain, the speaker tells the subject that he understands if he wishes to leave him, because he is so unworthy of him, and the second quatrain goes on about how undeserving the speaker is of the reader. The speaker continues his desperateness in the third quatrain, and the sonnet ends with the couplet stating that the time he has been with the subject has been like a dream. With reading this sonnet, it is apparent what a lack of self-confidence the speaker has and makes him seem pathetic. This could possibly indicate that writer was infact mocking the subject, rather than praising him. If the writer is trying to encourage the subject to have children, maybe the subject says that he is waiting for a girl who adores him in such a way as this. By writing the sonnet in this style, the writer demonstrates how silly a girl like that would sound, making the subject realize that he does not want that, and hopefully settle down with someone else.

Sonnet 73

Sonnet 73 is similar to sonnet 146 as it talks about the age of the speaker. It is very cautionary in tone, as the speaker uses himself as an example of how time fades beauty. In, the first quatrain, the speaker compares himself to barren trees while the second quatrain talks about how the speaker is slowly dying, the light inside of him slowly fading. In the third quatrain, the listener compares himself to the remains of a fire whose ashes are burning out, and the couplet closes the sonnet by saying that over time, one begins to become thankful for what they haven’t yet lost. This sonnet is interesting to me because it combines the speaker’s consciousness about himself aging, along with a direction toward the subject to try and encourage him to have children. By addressing his own sadness about growing old, the speaker encourages the subject that he should appreciate his own youth before it fades.

Sonnet 146

I find sonnet 146 especially interesting because the speaker seems to be talking more about himself, rather than directing his comments toward the subject. In the first quatrain, the speaker presents the question of why he starves his soul, while dressing up his body. The second quatrain makes a huge distinction that he is more than his body. He is only in his body only for a short time, and after that his body will decay. So, why spend effort trying to make it beautuful? The third quatrain no longer focuses on the limitations of the body, but rather on the importance of the soul. He tells his soul to thrive at the expense of his body. The couplet ends the sonnet by stating that once one feeds his soul instead of his body, he will outlast death. I enjoy this poem so much because while reading it, I do not feel as though the writer wrote it for someone else to read. It sounds much like an internal monologue or struggle – something like a diary entry. The pain about aging and feeling worthless that the speaker feels is made clear through the words that Shakespeare uses, making the sonnet almost painful for the reader to read as well.

Sonnet 55

Sonnet 55 continues with one of the speaker’s favorite subjects of time, and is very much linked with Sonnet 18 with the idea that poetry outlasts time. In the first quatrain, the speaker says that not even marble or monuments will be able to outlive this poetry and, therefore, the subject will be reincarnated in the lines as well. The second quatrain talks about how the subject’s memory can never be destroyed, because his exsistence will always live on in these poems. The third quatrain continues talking about how the speaker will never really die, and that generations to come will praise him. The couplet ends the sonnet by saying that until Judgement Day, the subject will live on and be praised by the readers of this poem. I find this sonnet quite ironic because although the poem has indeed lived on, defeating time, the reader knows very little, if not nothing, about the subject – and therefore, his memory really hasn’t. The speaker says that it will be the subject whoever is forever praised because of these poems, when in reality it has become the opposite. Instead, the writer, Shakespeare, has become the one that has been reincarnated through his own work.

Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 is easily one of the most easily recognizable poems in literature. The speaker begins the first line of the sonnet with a proposal: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and proceeds to spend the rest of the sonnet answering the question. The first quatrain simply says that the subject is better than summer; summer has imperfections that the listener does not. The second quatrain goes in depth about the flaws of nature. The sun can be too hot, sometimes it’s cloudy, and nothing that is beautiful is ever preserved. The third quatrain goes back to addressing the subject, telling them that they do not share the flaws of summer. The summer inside of them won’t fade, they won’t lose they beauty, and death will not deafeat them – because now their memory is captured within the lines of this poem. The couplet ends the sonnet by further commenting that as long as men are alive, the subject will forever live on through the verses in this sonnet – which they indeed have.

Sonnet 12

Like Sonnet 2, Sonnet 12 has a similar theme of time leading to a barren future. Through the first quatrain, the speaker dicusses how he has seen time turn things ugly that were once young and glorious. In the second quatrain, the speaker continues with his comments about how time makes all beauty fades, even making the comparison between the hauling of summer crops to an old man being carried off to his grave. The third quatrain is then directed directly at the boy. The speaker wonders outloud whether the boy’s beauty, like the beauty of nature, will also be destroyed over time. The couplet ends the sonnet by stating that there is no way to fight time – except, of course, by having children so that when you are gone, your offspring lives on. The speaker definitely gives this sonnet a negative tone, using words like “hideous,” “barren,” and “wastes.” I believe that he does this on purpose, in order to make the boy scared on time and death, and want to have children in order to live on.

Sonnet 2

Like Sonnet 1, Sonnet 2 urges Mr. W.H. to have children. In the first quatrain, the speaker explains to the boy that once he is old, the beauty that he has now will be worth little. The second quatrain tells him that when people ask where his beauty is, and he says only within his own old self, it will be shameful.The third quatrain then suggests a better response to that question. The speaker says that the boy could say that his old appearance are due to the raising the child of his, and that the beauty he once had lives on in his offspring. The couplet ends the sonnet by implying that if the reader procreates, that he will never really die, because he will live on through his children. This sonnet mainly using the future as a scare tatic into persuading the boy, reminding him that someday he will grow old and die. Having children, however, would of course save him from this impending doom.

Sonnet 1

Sonnet 1 is the first of Shakespeare’s sonnets directed at the unknown identity of Mr. W.H. Through the sonnet, the speaker tries to persuade the boy to start a family. The first quatrain says tells the boy that what is beautiful should procreate so that their beauty never dies. The second quatrain implies that the boy is selfish for not having done this, and the third quatrain argues that he must have children, or else his beauty will die. The couplet ends the sonnet by telling the boy how grave it will be for the world if he does not procreate. The speaker reinforces his point by using a mix of compliments, guilt, and scare tactics. He implies the boy himself is beautiful: “From fairest creatures we desire increase.” He makes the him feel guilty by suggesting that he is selfish for not having children: “Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel.” And, the speaker scares him by saying that his beauty will someday fade: “the world's fresh ornament / And only herald to the gaudy spring.” By using a combination of these tactics, the speaker hopes to presuade is ultimate message: have children.