About Shakespeare's Love Sonnets
Sonnet: n. & v. - n. a poem of 14 lines (usu. pentameters) using any of a number of formal
rhyme schemes, in English usu. having ten syllables per line. - v. (sonneted, sonneting) 1 intr.
write sonnets. 2 tr. address sonnets to. (Source: The Concise Oxford Dictionary)
A great flowering of English writing took place in the late 16th century during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The themes of Englishness, love, violence and the
turmoil of human emotions were explored from a nonreligious standpoint. Poetry
was considered the most polished form of literary expression unlike the writing of
plays which was often considered vulgar. The Faerie Queene (Books I-III, 1590;
Books IV-VI, 1596), an epic poem in six books by Edmund Spenser, is one of the
masterpieces of that century. They peaked in the mid-1590s, provoked by the
1591 publication of Sir Phillip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella. The sonnet, a poetry
style that uses a formal rhyme scheme, was used by Sidney and William
Shakespeare, who excelled at this form.
Francis Meres in his 1598 book Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasury, says:
"As the soule of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagoras: so the sweet wittie
soule of Ovid lives in mellifluous & honytongued Shakespeare, witnes his Venus
and Adonis, his Lucrece, his sugred Sonnets among his private frinds, &c."
No single sonnet can be picked out without looking at the meaning of the sonnets
all together. Only by analysing the entire set of sonnets can one discern their
purpose as set forth by Shakespeare. For example, a sonnet with a certain
meaning may be immediately followed by a sonnet conveying the opposite
message. The first one cannot be discussed without discussing the second
because the contradiction defines the nature of its meaning. The sonnets build
on, cancel out, and are formed by each other. The meanings of the sonnets are
all relative.
The bulk of Shakespeare's sonnets were written between 1594 and 1597. In the
late 1500's it was fashionable for English gentleman authors to write sonnets,
lyric poems made up of 14 lines. The sonnet is composed with a formal rhyme
scheme, denoting different thoughts, moods, or emotions, sometimes summed
up in the last lines of the poem. The two main forms of the
sonnet are the Petrarchan (Italian) and the
Shakespearean (English).
Sonnets had been glorified by Petrarch in Italy more than
200 years before English poets even knew about them. Sir
Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, were
among the first to introduce the sonnet into England.
William Shakespeare's first and second years in London
were spent writing in the Petrarchan style. The Petrarchan
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sonnet has an eight line stanza, or octave, and six-line stanza, or sestet. The
octave has two quatrains, rhyming abba, abba, but avoiding a couplet; the first
quatrain gives the theme, and the second develops it. The sestet is built on two
or three different rhymes; the first three lines reflect on the theme, and the last
three lines bring the whole poem to an end.
Sonnets were thought to be personal poetry and usually circulated among one's
friends and close acquaintances. It was considered unnecessary to publish
sonnets and undesirable to write them for the purpose of being published.
Because there were no copyright laws in 16th century England, Thomas Thorpe
(who somehow obtained copies), was able to publish Shakespeare's 154 sonnets
without the knowledge or consent of their author. The numerous, obvious errors
found in the sonnets are a testament to the fact that Shakespeare did not
prepare them for or see them through the printing press. Most of the sonnets are
addressed to, or mention the "fair boy" or the "dark-lady." Since Shakespeare
never made reference to their actual names, there has been much dogmatic
speculation as to the identity of these two people.
There is a story, first reported in Rowe (1709) and based on a story told by Sir
William D'Avenant (a poet known for his exaggerations, one of which was that
he, D'Avenant, was the bastard son of Shakespeare) that Southampton - of
whom he dedicated the poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece and
who might well have been the mysterious youth of whom Shakespeare writes in
his sonnets - rewarded Shakespeare for his poetic labours with 1,000 pounds:
"There is one Instance so singular in the Magnificence of this Patron of
Shakespear's, that if I had not been assur'd that the Story was handed down by
Sir William D'Avenant, who was probably very well acquainted with his Affairs, I
should not have ventur'd to have inserted, that my Lord Southampton, at one
time, gave him a thousand Pounds, to enable him to go through with a Purchase
which he heard he had a mind to. A Bounty very great, and very rare at any time,
and almost equal to that profuse Generosity the present Age has shewn to
French Dancers and italian Eunuchs" [Rowe sec. 3]
The biographer A L Rowse (Shakespeare the Man, 1973) is one of the few
scholars who take credence to this fable. However, research into Shakespeare's
finances (of which there is ample evidence) would suggest that nothing of this
amount - which would have been huge over four hundred years ago - stands out.
It is also pointed out that the Earl of Southampton himself underwent 'financial
embarrassment' during this period so would have been ill able to have afforded
the gift.
After his first two years in London, Shakespeare started writing in the English
sonnet form. According to some scholars, the English sonnet was made for a
language less beautiful in rhymes than Italian. William Shakespeare composed
154 sonnets in his lifetime. His sonnets were registered on 20 May 1609.
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The English sonnet differs from the Petrarchan sonnet
in that it is divided into three quatrains, each rhymed
differently, with an independently rhymed couplet at the
end. The rhyme scheme of the English sonnet is ABAB,
CDCD, EFEF, GG. Each quatrain takes a different
appearance of the idea or develops a different image to
express the theme. All of Shakespeare's sonnets were
in this form except for the poems he wrote earlier in life.
Shakespeare's first 26 sonnets are clearly addressed to
a young man whom the poet describes as "beauty's
rose" (Sonnet 1) and often refers to as "my love."
Shakespeare clearly defines his love for the young man
as non-sexual (Sonnet 20). In 17 of the sonnets
Shakespeare urges the young man to get married and
have children. There are another one hundred and one sonnets, also written to a
young man (probably the same young nobleman as in the first 26). These have a
variety of themes, such as the beauty of the loved one; destruction of beauty;
competition with a Rival Poet; despair about the absence of a loved one; and
reaction toward the young man's coldness. Shakespeare, at times also accuses
the young man of betrayal and states to him his faults, praises the young man's
beauty, reluctantly accepts that the young man and his mistress have had an
affair, mourns his absence, and ultimately forgives the young man for all of his
grievances and apologises for his own infidelity.
The remaining sonnets tell about the "dark lady," possibly Shakespeare's
mistress. He describes her as his "worser spirit" (Sonnet 144) and states that she
is married. The sonnets depict a painful and erotic relationship in which the poet
remains attached to his mistress through a combination of love, and even
stronger lust.
This is an example of the Shakespearean sonnet form (Sonnet 78):
So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse, (A)
And found such faire assistance in my verse, (B)
As every Alien pen hath got my use, (A)
And under thee their poesy disperse. (B)
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing, (C)
And heavy ignorance aloft to flie, (D)
Have added feathers to the learned's wing, (C)
And given grace a double majestie. (D)
Yet be most proud of that which I compile, (E)
Whose influence is thine and born of thee, (F)
In others'works thou dost but mend the style (E)
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be. (F)
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But thou art all my art, and dost advance (G)
As high as learning my rude ignorance. (G)
The above is typical of Shakespeare's use of the English form of the sonnet with
its rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. In sonnet 78, the first few lines
reflect on the theme of his writings, and the last two lines bring the sonnet to a
conclusion. This sonnet shows that Southampton (another contemporary poet,
later becoming a fellow opponent) is giving help to one or more rivals. "The
dumbe" and "heavie ignorance" in the final couplet of the sonnet may be
Shakespeare himself, according to
some scholars. The "learned's wing"
represents another poet to which
Southampton had given motivation.
" When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies... " Sonnet 138 Painting by William Dyce, Paolo and Francesca 1837
The word 'time' is used over 80 times
in the sonnets. Shakespeare
describes time as a "bloody tyrant" (Sonnet 16), "devouring" and "swift-footed"
(Sonnet 19). Time is often personified and appears capitalised, like in a name, in
several sonnets. Time is making Shakespeare old and near "hideous night"
(Sonnet 12) or death. And time will eventually rob the beauty of the young man.
In Sonnet 15 Shakespeare ponders time:
"When I consider every thing that grows Holds in perfection for but a little
moment.... Where wasteful time debateth with decay...." Shakespeare presents
time as the protagonist and aggressor throughout his sonnets.
The first 27 sonnets propose one method by which Shakespeare feels time can
be fought. He urges the young man to have children so that his beauty will be
preserved in posterity and therefore time will not have won the battle. The first
two lines of the first sonnet present this theme:
"From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might
never die... ."
In Sonnet 11, Shakespeare tells the young man that when he grows old he will
be young in his children and that " Herein lives wisdom, beauty and increase;
Without this, folly, age and cold decay." The poet goes on to explain to the young
man that nature has given him a gift of beauty so that he may reproduce it. The
couplet sums it up: "She [mother nature] carved thee for her seal, and meant
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thereby Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die."
Shakespeare's suggestions to the young man sometimes turn into accusations
that he is hoarding the beauty which he was lent, and therefore abusing the
lease. In this regard, he addresses the young man in Sonnet 4 as "Unthrifty
loveliness" and "Profitless userer."
After Sonnet 17, when it seems apparent that the young man is unwilling to
marry, Shakespeare presents another way in which to wage war against
tyrannous time. He says that his poetry will always exist and be read and that if
the young man is not alive in his posterity, through his poetry his love will be
forever alive. This revelation first occurs in Sonnet 15. The poet writes in the last
four lines "...Where wasteful time debateth with decay To change your [the young
man's] day of youth into sullied night; And all in war with time for love of you, As
he [time] takes from you, I engraft you new." Shakespeare gracefully continues
the theme in the couplets of Sonnets 18 and 19. "So long as men can breathe or
eyes can see, So long lives this [the poem], and this gives life to thee" (Sonnet
18). In Sonnet 19, after forbidding time from destroying the young man,
Shakespeare concludes, "Yet do thy worst, old time; despite thy wrong My love
shall in my verse ever live young."
The rest of the sonnets discuss all aspects of the love between the poet and the
young man, and the poet and his mistress. They describe a number of
circumstances in the poet's relationship with these people. The final opponent of
time presented in the sonnets is explicitly stated in Sonnet 116:
"Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover
to remove. O no, it is an ever fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never
shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring barque, Whose worth's unknown
although his height be taken. Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not
with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the
edge of doom."
The foundation for this theme was built up gradually in
several of the earlier sonnets including 22 and 25, in which
the poet begins to come to the conclusion that love can
shelter him. The conclusion he does come to in Sonnet 116
is that love, despite time, is a constant.
The collection of sonnets was not published until 1609 and
probably not by Shakespeare, but nonetheless, it is thought
likely that they were composed during the Earl of
Southampton period between 1592 - 95. Like everything else when it comes to
fixing a date to the works of Shakespeare there is no definite proof and there are
many theories concerning the dating and circumstances of the Sonnets.
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Regardless of these factors, it is felt by many that several of them are among the
most perfect poems ever written.
William Shakespeare composed 154 sonnets in his lifetime. He is noted as being
the first writer to be commemorated at Westminster Abbey's poet's corner. There
also is a bust of him over a door at Westminster Abbey (see Shakepeare's death
pages). Shakespeare's personal life is strongly reflected in his sonnets.
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