SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
The Sonnet ... Defined
The sonnet may be defined as a poem expressing one main idea and consisting of fourteen decasyllabic lines with a certain rhyme scheme. Sonnet is Italian in origin, having been practiced by Dante (1265-1321) and Petrarch (1304-74). In France its main exponent was Ronsard (1525-85) but in French the fourteen lines were usually in alexandrines and not decasyllabic. In English, however, while the decasyllabic (iambic pentameter) has been the normal metrical form, the rhyme scheme has been varying.
Following are the four most commonly used forms in English literature.
The Petrarchan Form
The Petrarchan sonnet has two parts: the first eight lines, called the 'octave' follow the rhyme scheme 'abba abba' ; and the remaining six lines, callked the 'sestet' has the rhyme scheme 'cde cde' or 'cdc dcd' or any similar combination avoiding a couplet at the end. The octave puts forward the theme to be developed or the problem to be examined while the sestet provides the resolution.
The Spenserian Form
The Spenserian sonnet consisting of fourteen decasyllabic lines observes the rhyme scheme 'abab bcbc cdcd ee'. This form, developed by Edmund Spenser, is also known as the 'link sonnet' because often there is no break between the octave and the sestet.
The Shakespearean Form
The Shakespearean form (also called the English form) consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme is generally 'abab cdcd efef gg'; or it may be 'abba cddc effe gg'. This form was first employed by Wyatt and Surrey during the first half of the 16th century but it was brought to perfection by Shakespeare who used the final couplet to express the theme and clinch an argument, or in some cases, to state a conclusion which is the reverse of what has been said in the preceding twelve lines.
The Miltonic Form
This form retains the rhyme scheme of both the octave and sestet of the Petrarchan sonnet, the difference being that there is in this form no pause or change of direction at the beginning of the sestet. The effect is like one long wave of words coming in, without any ebb at all. The absence of any break between the octave and the sestet gives the verse movement, sonority and a dignity which Milton exploited fully.
The Merits of Various Forms
Each of these forms has something to recommend it. The Petrarchan sonnet, with its division of the poet's thoughts into two parts provides a natural ebb and flow of meaning or reflection. The octave gives a unified pattern to the initial deliberation leading to a turn of thought or change of mood at the beginning of the sestet. The Spenserian and the Shakespearean sonnets offer relief from the difficulty of rhyming in English. The movement in these forms is swifter and the couplet makes it possible for the poet to end his poem with a sting in the tail. The Miltonic form gives great unity to the basic Petrarchan form by permitting the octave to run into the sestet.
The Variety Permitted by Sonnet
Sonnet is not a piece of poetic mathematics. The basic requirement of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter has, of course, to be met by every English poet who wants to write a sonnet, but beyond that considerable freedom is possible. No two outstanding sonnets in English are alike. Within exact metrical limits, the English language permits great variety of rhythm.
The Petrarchan Love Conventions
The Renaissance English sonnet writers were greatly influenced by Petrarch's love sonnets written in praise of Laura, the girl he loved. In Petrarch's sonnets the lover adores an unresponsive mistress. The basic Petrarchan situation --- the adoring lover and the unresponsive mistress --- became a model for the imitators of Petrarch. The lady in the sonnets written according to Petrarchan model is passionately desired and sought but unreachable. The lover suffers the tempestuous passion of love: he lies awake at night, or, if he sleeps, he has erotic dreams of his mistress; he hears her singing or watches her doing needle work; or he steals a kiss while she is asleep; he itemises all her beauties and protests that the power of his verse will keep that beauty alive in spite of the ravages of time. The lover imagines himself as a ship caught in a storm; he is afflicted by hot ice and freezing fire; the lady's eyes like the sun have the power to burn; her eyelashes are like nets which can catch him; her eyebrows are the bow for Cupid's arrow. A sonnet written according to Petrarchan convention is thus based on one 'conciet' or another. In one of his sonnets, Spenser says: "My love is like to ice, and I to fire". The question as to how two such opposites can co-exist, he replies that it is love's unique power to perform miracles.
Shakespeare and the Petrarchan Convention
In Shakespeare's sonnet sequence, conciets are abundantly used in relation to the writer's love for his male friend who is therefore treated by the writer as a Petrarchan mistress, while the mistress herself is subjected to scathing criticism. Thus Shakespeare's sonnet sequence is revolutionary: it stands the conventional Petrarchan situation on its head, turning the sonnet lady into a whore and attaching all the idealised emotions to a young man.
The Vogue of the Sonnet
Sonnet writting enjoyed a great vogue during the Renaissance. Although the sonnet was Italian in origin and was introduced into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt, yet a number of English poets took a fancy of it, especially after the publication of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella. There must, indeed, have been something attractive in the sonnet form to catch the attention of the poets of that time. Not all poets have felt the capability of sonnet writing. One poet, Edward Thomas, records "personally I have a dread of the sonnet. It must contain fourteen lines, and a man must be a tremendous poet or a cold mathematician if he can accomodate his thoughts to such a condition." Yet there was something which called poets again and again to the sonnet. Perhaps one reason for the attraction was that it offered a mode of poetic thoughts which required discipline. In the words of M M Mahood "the sonnet is a satisfying organisation of sound and sense that conveys the ordered movement of thought into which the emotion has been shaped." This is an effect which the Renaissance poets seemed very likely to have aimed at.
The Sonnet Form --- Challenging to the Poets
Its challenging form is another reason for its attraction. According to W P Ker "the abstract sonnet pattern turns in the mind of the sonneteer to a fresh new measure according to an old rule and measure. It may give just that variety and unity which is the secret of life. The sonnet fails whwn it is monotonous. It is not a mere stanza, it is atleast a double thing, with position in it and contradiction. It is a true arguement." The precision of the form, the need to avoid monotony and insignificance: these are some of the stimuli the sonnet must have offered to the poets.
The English Form --- Some Characteristics
There are differences between the Italian and the English forms (and even there are differences within the English form as well). The form adopted by Shakespeare is the least subtle and least intricate of all the variants used by English poets. The Petrarchan form was more demanding than any other form. Shakespeare and a number of other English poets wrote some of the finest sonnets in the language. If the Shakespearean form is less demanding in one way, it is a good deal more so in another. Precisely because of the lack of linking rhyme between the quatrains, there is a danger that each quatrain will appear cut off from the other or related in too mechanical a fashion, and that the poem as a whole will have too simple a structure, three successive quatrains, more or less self contained, and then a final couplet. There is also the danger that the couplet may make a damaging conclusion, sometimes too pat, sometimes anti-climax. The couplet is too brief to contain the entire counter statement to the first three quatrains without giving the impression that the poet is trying to wrench the poem back on its course. If, however, the poet too anxiously anticipates the final turn of thought throughout the first twelve lines, the couplet loses its epigramatic spring.
Shakespeare's Choice of the English Form
As to why Shakespeare choose the English form, Bower Nichols observes: "the only explanation seems to be that he considered the form evolved by Surrey and other English poets to have on the whole for English practice the advantage. He judged, as we may believe, that the classic symmetry of the Petrarchan Sonnet was in English too difficult of attainment, that it cramped invention, and imposed too many sacrifices and concessions; and that the artistic end could better be achieved in the inferior medium." According to T S Eliot "the sonnet of Shakespeare is not merely such and such a pattern, but a precise way of thinking and feeling." Philip Martin expresses the view that the Sonnet itself was not the perfect one for what Shakespeare had to say but simply the nearest to hand, and that the results of his putting it into use do not sometimes represent a complete fusion of matter and form.
THE SONNETS OF SHAKESPEARE
An Introduction: The sonnets of Shakespeare, 154 in number, have been the subject of many literary controversies. The problems raised by the sonnets have taxed the minds of critics and commentators who have advanced many theories in an attempt to solve the problems. For the ordinary reader, of course, the best course is not to get entangled in these controversial theories but to enjoy the sonnets . However, as the advanced students of literature we simply cannot get away from the problems which a detailed study is sure to raise. According to James Winny "the sonnets are among the most puzzling works of Shakespeare. "
The Dates: One problem which faces us is the time of the writing of these sonnets. These were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe who had to his credit several other publications. However, there can be little doubt that many of the sonnets had been in circulation by 1599. Francis Meres, in 1598, referred to some of them as 'sugared sonnets'. The evidences point to the fact that the sonnet sequence may have been begun by Shakespeare in 1592 and that it may have been finished by 1594. However, some critics believe that the sonnets were written during the years 1592 and 1603.
Two Major Categories: The sonnets were first published in the Quarto by Thomas Thorpe. The sonnets are divided into two major groups: Sonnets 1-126 are addressed to a young, handsome nobleman to whom Shakespeare pays glowing tributes but whom he occasionally scolds or finds faults with. The sonnets of other group, 127-152, are addressed to a woman who has come to be called the 'dark lady' because of her dark eyes, dark hair and dark complexion. The woman is the target of much criticism and condemnation by the poet for her disloyalty to him. The last two sonnets are concerned with the power that the passion of love or the god of love has over human beings.
Major Themes: The central theme of sonnets 1-126 is the poet's devotion to his young, noble friend. This group celebrates the them of friendship. Sonnets 127-152 deal with the disloyal mistress who falls in love with the poet's friend, the friend in turn betraying the poet by responding to her passion. Friendship, love and betrayal are thus the major themes. The subsidiary themes are time and the ravages of time, mutability, mortality and death, power of great poetry, the need of marriage and procreation, the folly of using paints and powder in order to look beautiful, the destructiveness of lust, the sin of self love or narcissism.
Shakespeare's Greatness: The sonnets, like Shakespeare's longer poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucreece, show Shakespeare's poetic genius. These sonnets are the most moving short poems ever composed. Shakespeare's infinite verbal resources, his rich fancy, the wealth and profusion of his vocabulary, the felicity of word and phrase, his wit and ingenuity, his inventiveness and fertility of imagination, his capacity to present striking and vivid images and pictures to our mind --- all these are amply illustrated in the sonnets.
George Saintsbury believes that in the sonnets the absolute high water mark of poetry is touched and according to Wordsworth it is through these sonnets that Shakespeare unlocks his heart.
SONNET 29
Subject Matter: The poet is out of favour with fortune, and people are hostile to him. He all alone laments his lot as an outcast. He then reproaches heaven for his bad luck and curses his fate. He begins to envy other people who have more hope in life, who are good looking and who are blessed with friends. In this mood of desperation and self hatred, he consoles himself with the thoughts of his friend. The thought of his friend's love brings such wealth to him that he would not like to exchange his position even with kings.
Critical Comments: The mood of depression in this sonnet is very marked. The poet deplores his bad luck and bewails his deficiencies and his lack of many of the things which other people possess. However, the last five lines neutralise all his sorrow and grief with their reference to the love which his friend has for him. The conceit in these five lines is pleasing: the thought of his friend's love makes him feel richer than kings. There is absolutely no artificiality in this sonnet. The sincerity of the poet shines through it. It is an extremely revealing sonnet both from the psychological and autobiographical point of view. It clearly shows Shakespeare's grief at the circumstances of life at the time it was written.
SONNET 130
Subject Matter: The poet does not find, in his mistress, those beauties which have conventionally been attributed by writers to their beloved. For instance, the eyes of the poet's mistress are not bright like the sun, her lips are not as red as coral, her breasts are certainly not white like snow, her hair is certainly not like golden wires, her cheeks certainly not as sweet as perfumes, her voice is certainly not as pleasing as music. In short, the poet's mistress is no goddess of beauty but just an ordinary woman walking on the ground. In spite of all this, the poet looks upon his beloved as a rare woman, as rare as any woman who has most extravagantly been praised by any writer.
Critical Comments: This sonnet is a satire on the unreal comparisons in which the poets of the time used to indulge when writing about the beauty of their mistresses. All kinds of artificial comparisons were made to eulogize and glorify a woman in those days. Many of those comparisons figure in this sonnet but here the poet speaks in a negative vein pointing out that these comparisons are not valid in the case of his beloved. Thus the poem is a satirical rejection of the false comparisons which were current in the poetry of the Elizabethan times. Shakespeare here adopts a more realistic approach while describing his beloved but at the same time he affirms that she is a rare woman. From the point of view of style, it is one of the easiest of the sonnets and is completely free from any kind of obscurity. Here we have an example of Shakespeare's lucid style.
Shakespeare and the Petrarchan Convention
In Shakespeare's sonnet sequence, conciets are abundantly used in relation to the writer's love for his male friend who is therefore treated by the writer as a Petrarchan mistress, while the mistress herself is subjected to scathing criticism. Thus Shakespeare's sonnet sequence is revolutionary: it stands the conventional Petrarchan situation on its head, turning the sonnet lady into a whore and attaching all the idealised emotions to a young man.
The Vogue of the Sonnet
Sonnet writting enjoyed a great vogue during the Renaissance. Although the sonnet was Italian in origin and was introduced into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt, yet a number of English poets took a fancy of it, especially after the publication of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella. There must, indeed, have been something attractive in the sonnet form to catch the attention of the poets of that time. Not all poets have felt the capability of sonnet writing. One poet, Edward Thomas, records "personally I have a dread of the sonnet. It must contain fourteen lines, and a man must be a tremendous poet or a cold mathematician if he can accomodate his thoughts to such a condition." Yet there was something which called poets again and again to the sonnet. Perhaps one reason for the attraction was that it offered a mode of poetic thoughts which required discipline. In the words of M M Mahood "the sonnet is a satisfying organisation of sound and sense that conveys the ordered movement of thought into which the emotion has been shaped." This is an effect which the Renaissance poets seemed very likely to have aimed at.
The Sonnet Form --- Challenging to the Poets
Its challenging form is another reason for its attraction. According to W P Ker "the abstract sonnet pattern turns in the mind of the sonneteer to a fresh new measure according to an old rule and measure. It may give just that variety and unity which is the secret of life. The sonnet fails whwn it is monotonous. It is not a mere stanza, it is atleast a double thing, with position in it and contradiction. It is a true arguement." The precision of the form, the need to avoid monotony and insignificance: these are some of the stimuli the sonnet must have offered to the poets.
The English Form --- Some Characteristics
There are differences between the Italian and the English forms (and even there are differences within the English form as well). The form adopted by Shakespeare is the least subtle and least intricate of all the variants used by English poets. The Petrarchan form was more demanding than any other form. Shakespeare and a number of other English poets wrote some of the finest sonnets in the language. If the Shakespearean form is less demanding in one way, it is a good deal more so in another. Precisely because of the lack of linking rhyme between the quatrains, there is a danger that each quatrain will appear cut off from the other or related in too mechanical a fashion, and that the poem as a whole will have too simple a structure, three successive quatrains, more or less self contained, and then a final couplet. There is also the danger that the couplet may make a damaging conclusion, sometimes too pat, sometimes anti-climax. The couplet is too brief to contain the entire counter statement to the first three quatrains without giving the impression that the poet is trying to wrench the poem back on its course. If, however, the poet too anxiously anticipates the final turn of thought throughout the first twelve lines, the couplet loses its epigramatic spring.
Shakespeare's Choice of the English Form
As to why Shakespeare choose the English form, Bower Nichols observes: "the only explanation seems to be that he considered the form evolved by Surrey and other English poets to have on the whole for English practice the advantage. He judged, as we may believe, that the classic symmetry of the Petrarchan Sonnet was in English too difficult of attainment, that it cramped invention, and imposed too many sacrifices and concessions; and that the artistic end could better be achieved in the inferior medium." According to T S Eliot "the sonnet of Shakespeare is not merely such and such a pattern, but a precise way of thinking and feeling." Philip Martin expresses the view that the Sonnet itself was not the perfect one for what Shakespeare had to say but simply the nearest to hand, and that the results of his putting it into use do not sometimes represent a complete fusion of matter and form.
THE SONNETS OF SHAKESPEARE
An Introduction: The sonnets of Shakespeare, 154 in number, have been the subject of many literary controversies. The problems raised by the sonnets have taxed the minds of critics and commentators who have advanced many theories in an attempt to solve the problems. For the ordinary reader, of course, the best course is not to get entangled in these controversial theories but to enjoy the sonnets . However, as the advanced students of literature we simply cannot get away from the problems which a detailed study is sure to raise. According to James Winny "the sonnets are among the most puzzling works of Shakespeare. "
The Dates: One problem which faces us is the time of the writing of these sonnets. These were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe who had to his credit several other publications. However, there can be little doubt that many of the sonnets had been in circulation by 1599. Francis Meres, in 1598, referred to some of them as 'sugared sonnets'. The evidences point to the fact that the sonnet sequence may have been begun by Shakespeare in 1592 and that it may have been finished by 1594. However, some critics believe that the sonnets were written during the years 1592 and 1603.
Two Major Categories: The sonnets were first published in the Quarto by Thomas Thorpe. The sonnets are divided into two major groups: Sonnets 1-126 are addressed to a young, handsome nobleman to whom Shakespeare pays glowing tributes but whom he occasionally scolds or finds faults with. The sonnets of other group, 127-152, are addressed to a woman who has come to be called the 'dark lady' because of her dark eyes, dark hair and dark complexion. The woman is the target of much criticism and condemnation by the poet for her disloyalty to him. The last two sonnets are concerned with the power that the passion of love or the god of love has over human beings.
Major Themes: The central theme of sonnets 1-126 is the poet's devotion to his young, noble friend. This group celebrates the them of friendship. Sonnets 127-152 deal with the disloyal mistress who falls in love with the poet's friend, the friend in turn betraying the poet by responding to her passion. Friendship, love and betrayal are thus the major themes. The subsidiary themes are time and the ravages of time, mutability, mortality and death, power of great poetry, the need of marriage and procreation, the folly of using paints and powder in order to look beautiful, the destructiveness of lust, the sin of self love or narcissism.
Shakespeare's Greatness: The sonnets, like Shakespeare's longer poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucreece, show Shakespeare's poetic genius. These sonnets are the most moving short poems ever composed. Shakespeare's infinite verbal resources, his rich fancy, the wealth and profusion of his vocabulary, the felicity of word and phrase, his wit and ingenuity, his inventiveness and fertility of imagination, his capacity to present striking and vivid images and pictures to our mind --- all these are amply illustrated in the sonnets.
George Saintsbury believes that in the sonnets the absolute high water mark of poetry is touched and according to Wordsworth it is through these sonnets that Shakespeare unlocks his heart.
SONNET 29
Subject Matter: The poet is out of favour with fortune, and people are hostile to him. He all alone laments his lot as an outcast. He then reproaches heaven for his bad luck and curses his fate. He begins to envy other people who have more hope in life, who are good looking and who are blessed with friends. In this mood of desperation and self hatred, he consoles himself with the thoughts of his friend. The thought of his friend's love brings such wealth to him that he would not like to exchange his position even with kings.
Critical Comments: The mood of depression in this sonnet is very marked. The poet deplores his bad luck and bewails his deficiencies and his lack of many of the things which other people possess. However, the last five lines neutralise all his sorrow and grief with their reference to the love which his friend has for him. The conceit in these five lines is pleasing: the thought of his friend's love makes him feel richer than kings. There is absolutely no artificiality in this sonnet. The sincerity of the poet shines through it. It is an extremely revealing sonnet both from the psychological and autobiographical point of view. It clearly shows Shakespeare's grief at the circumstances of life at the time it was written.
SONNET 130
Subject Matter: The poet does not find, in his mistress, those beauties which have conventionally been attributed by writers to their beloved. For instance, the eyes of the poet's mistress are not bright like the sun, her lips are not as red as coral, her breasts are certainly not white like snow, her hair is certainly not like golden wires, her cheeks certainly not as sweet as perfumes, her voice is certainly not as pleasing as music. In short, the poet's mistress is no goddess of beauty but just an ordinary woman walking on the ground. In spite of all this, the poet looks upon his beloved as a rare woman, as rare as any woman who has most extravagantly been praised by any writer.
Critical Comments: This sonnet is a satire on the unreal comparisons in which the poets of the time used to indulge when writing about the beauty of their mistresses. All kinds of artificial comparisons were made to eulogize and glorify a woman in those days. Many of those comparisons figure in this sonnet but here the poet speaks in a negative vein pointing out that these comparisons are not valid in the case of his beloved. Thus the poem is a satirical rejection of the false comparisons which were current in the poetry of the Elizabethan times. Shakespeare here adopts a more realistic approach while describing his beloved but at the same time he affirms that she is a rare woman. From the point of view of style, it is one of the easiest of the sonnets and is completely free from any kind of obscurity. Here we have an example of Shakespeare's lucid style.
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