Chapter 3
Renaissance II
Shakespeare
Other Writers
Contents
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Explanation of sonnet
Petrarchan sonnet
Shakespearian/English sonnet
Understanding and appreciatining Shakespeare’s Sonnet
18
Simple analysis of Sonnet 18
Shakespeare’s place and influence
Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)
Ben Jonson (1573 -1637)
Explanation of Sonnet
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What is sonnet?
A sonnet is a short song in the original meaning of the
word. Later it became a poem of 14 lines, with each
line consisting of 10 syllables which can be broken up
into five feet (pentameter) of an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable (iambic) –hence iambic
pentameters. It was first written by the Italian poet
Petrarch. Then it was introduced to England by
Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey. There are two
types of sonnets: Shakespearian or Elizabethan or
English sonnet and Petrarchan sonnets. What clearly
distinguishes the two, however, is the rhyming schem.
Petrarchan Sonnet (a literary term)
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In this kind of sonnet, there are two parts. The
first eight lines, called an octave, present an
argument with a rhyming scheme of abba abba,
Or: abba cddc Or: abab cdcd; the last six lines,
called a sestet, present another argument,
following a rhyming scheme cde cde, or: efefef.
There is no rhyming couplet.
Shakespearian Sonnet (a literary term)
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In sonnets of this kind, the first three quatrains
have a distinct rhyming scheme like abab cdcd
efef, or: abba cddc effe, and ends with a couplet
rhyming gg. In the three quatrains the theme is
put forward and developed, and in the couplet
the sonnet ends with a surprise conclusion or a
shift of ideas. So Shakespeare’s sonnet is called
English sonnet.
Petrarchan sonnet
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (a) (a) (a)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (b) (b) (b)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (b) (b) (a)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (a) (a) (b)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (a) (c) (c) (An octave: the
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (b) (d) (d) first argument)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (b) (d) (c)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (a) (c) (d)
↓
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (c) (e)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (d) (f)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (e) (e)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (c) (f) (a sestet: the other
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (d) (e) argument)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (e) (f)
Shakespearian sonnet
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨-
(a) (a)
(b) (b)
(a) (b)
(b) (a)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨-
(c) (c)
(d) (d)
(c) (d)
(d) (c)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨∨-∨-∨-∨-∨-
↓
(e) (e)
(f) (f)
(e) (f)
(f) (e)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (g) (g)
∨-∨-∨-∨-∨- (g) (g)
Introduction to Shakespeare’s sonnets
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The first 17 sonnets are written to a young man, urging him to
marry and have children,thereby passing down his beauty to the
next generation. These are called the procreation sonnets. Most
of them, however, 18-126, are addressed to a young man
expressing the poet's love for him. Sonnets 127-152 are written
to a “dark lady”, expressing his strong love for her. The final two
sonnets, 153-154, are allegorical. The final thirty or so sonnets
are written about a number of issues, such as the young man's
infidelity with the poet's mistress, self-resolution to control his
own lust, beleaguered criticism of the world, etc.
Understanding and appreciating Sonnet 18
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Analysis of content and meaning:
The 1st line begins with a question: Shall I
compare thee to a summer’s day? The second
line “Thou art more lovely and more temperate”
is positive as well as negative to the first line. It
affirms that the author like to “compare thee to
a summer’s day”, but you are “more lovely and
temperate”. A summer’s day can not match your
beauty. This is the negative implication.
This line ends with a colon that indicates that the
following lines(the next four lines 3, 4, 5and 6)
will tell why a summer’s day can not match “thee”.
Because “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 is often is his gold complexion
dimmed:/. Lines 7 and 8 states a forever truth:
And every fair from fair sometime declines,/By
chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed:/
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The main idea of this sonnet lies in the next four
lines (9, 10, 11 and 12). The couplet in the end gives
the reason and offers the condition to the above four
lines: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/So
long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. “Eternal
summer” in line 9 is a metaphor, referring to “thy
eternal beauty”. The sonnet not only praises the beauty
of the author’s beauty, but also the eternity of poetry.
Shakespeare achieves the goal of serving a double
purpose. He makes the beauty of his friend motionless,
into the poem so that the beauty is distillated and
eternalized.
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The difference between “a summer’s day”of
nature and “thy eternal summer”is that summer of
nature will disappear with time going,i.e. the
beauty of summer in nature can not exist forever.
Summer’s beauty is fleeting there in nature once a
year; however, “thy eternal summer” is not that
way. Your beauty will exist forever, never decaying,
because you live in this poem that will live as long
as there are human beings.
Simple analysis of Sonnet 18
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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,
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By chance or nature's changing
course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not
fade
Nor lose possession of that fair
thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou
wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou
growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes
can see,
So long lives this and this gives life
to thee
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This is probably one of the most famous of all sonnets.
But it does dot stand in isolation. It is linked with so
many of Shakespeare’s other sonnets through the themes
of the descriptive power of verse: the ability of the poet
to depict the fair youth adequately; and the immortality
that lives in these “eternal lines”. It is noticeable that here
the poet is full of confidence that his verse will live as
long as there are people living on the Earth, whereas later
he apologizes for his poor wit and his humble lines which
are inadequate to express
All the youth’s excellence. Now, perhaps in the early
days of his love, there is no such self-doubt and the
eternal summer of the youth is preserved forever in the
poet’s lines. The poem also works to achieve its
objective through dispraise. The summer’s day is found
to be lacking in so many respects (too short, too hot,
too rough, sometimes too dingy), but curiously enough
one is left with the impression that the young man is in
fact like a summer’s day at its best, fair, warm,sunny,
temperate, one of the darling buds of May, and that all
his beauty has been wonderfully highlighted by this
comparison. The poet’s main concern here is Beauty
and Poetry.
Shakespeare’s place and influence
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He has been universally acknowledged to be the
summit of the English Renaissance, the greatest of all
dramatists the world over
His influence upon English language and thought is
beyond calculation: all English writers of any
importance cannot escape from his influence either
directly or indirectly, either in thought, content or in
dramatic form or language; he also exerted influence
upon many writers in other countries through his
various translations of his works.
Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)
His writings are remembered for two things: (p64)
 He is among the earliest English essayists and is regarded the
founder of English essays, the founder of English materialist
philosophy and the founder of modern science in England.
 His major works: (p65)
1. The subjects of his essays: (The last paragraph of p65)
2. His Essays: Essays was the first of its kind to appear in English
literature. Of the 58 essays in its final edition, more than half are
about public life and public duty.
 The features of the Essays: They are famous for their brevity,
compactness and powerfulness.
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Ben Jonson (1573 -1637)
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Ben Jonson was the last great Elizabethan and
probably the first poet laureate (1616).
His major works: His universally acknowledged
masterpieces are the comedies: Volpone or the Fox
and The Alchemist .He arrived at the full maturity
of his dramatic powers with Volpone.
Assignments
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Written work:
Define the terms: Petrarchan Sonnet, Shakespearian
Sonnet
What is the main concern of the poet in Sonnet 18 by
Shakespeare?
What is the difference between the “summer’s day” of
nature and “thy eternal summer”?
What kinds of founders is Francis Bacon called?
Tell the features of Francis Bacon”s Esays.
Topics for discussion
1. How many groups are there in Shakespeare’s
sonnets?
2. The influence of Shakespeare on world
literature.
 Oral work
Memeorizing Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare
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Too short a date