The Love Sonnet
Act I, Scene v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74RXlBuQC_
g
Here is Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Romeo
and Juliet’s first meeting.
Can you summarise what happens?
What do these mean? What idea
do they have in common?
• Profane
• Saint
TO ABUSE SOMETHING SACRED. (ALSO, AS IN BAD OR
“PROFANE” LANGUAGE)
PERSON WHO DIED AND WAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AS HOLY. CATHOLICS BELIEVE A
PERSON CAN ASK THE SAINT TO SPEAK FOR HIM/HER TO
GOD TO GRANT A PRAYER
• Pilgrim
PERSON WHO TRAVELS TO A HOLY PLACE OUT OF DEVOTION
TO A GOD OR SAINT
• Shrine
PLACE WHERE PILGRIMS VISIT FOR PRAYER AND TO
WORSHIP A SAINT. OFTEN A STATUE OF THE SAINT OR A
RELIC (BIT OF CLOTH, BONE, OR BODY PART) BELONGING TO
THE SAINT IS THERE
• Palmer
PERSON WEARING TWO CROSSED PALM LEAVES AS A SIGN
OF PILGRIMMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND (KNOWN TODAY AS
ISRAEL)
The Love Sonnet
Romeo
Juliet
Romeo
Juliet
Romeo
Juliet
Romeo
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch
And palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss.
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.
Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take.
• Task
• Write down any rhyming words at the end of the
lines when Romeo and Juliet are talking.
• How many lines are there? The rhyming words
signal the end of a line.
• Assign each rhyming pair a letter.
Hand/ stand = a. Write out the rhyme scheme.
• Now go back to the prologue. Any similarities?
Rhyme scheme
• ababcdcdefefgg
• The play’s Prologue also is a single sonnet of the
same rhyme scheme as Romeo and Juliet’s
shared sonnet. If you remember, the Prologue
sonnet introduces the play, and, through its
description of Romeo and Juliet’s eventual death,
also helps to create the sense of fate that
permeates Romeo and Juliet. The shared sonnet
between Romeo and Juliet therefore creates a
formal link between their love and their destiny.
With a single sonnet, Shakespeare finds a means
of expressing perfect love and linking it to a tragic
fate.
Romeo:
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
93
94
95
96
Summary: Romeo decides he wants to kiss
Juliet’s hand to show her how much he likes her.
To do so, he takes her hand in his, and he
explains that his hand is obviously not as worthy
as hers. In fact, she is so worthy, she is like a
what? (Look at line 94)
METAPHOR: Juliet is a ___________.
Romeo:
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
93
94
95
96
Summary: Romeo says that if by touching her he
has “profaned” her hand—if he has made it less
holy—then he is willing to kiss her hand, to
make up for his unworthy touch.
Romeo’s metaphor to describe his lips: Romeo’s
lips = ___________ ___________ ___________
Romeo:
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
93
94
95
96
In line 94, Romeo uses a metaphor to describe
the kiss he will give Juliet’s hand. What two
words are the other half of this metaphor?
Romeo’s kiss on her hand =
___________ ___________
Juliet:
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do
touch
And palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss.
97
98
99
100
Summary: Juliet accepts the compliment that plays
along with Romeo, calling him by a new name.
What words does she use to describe him in line
97? _______ ______
Juliet:
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do
touch
And palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss.
97
98
99
100
Summary: But Juliet isn’t going to give in that easily to
Romeo or his word play. Rather than saying, “No, you
can’t kiss me,” she plays hard to get: “Oh, you’ve been
too mean to your hand by saying it’s the ‘unworthiest.’”
She says that even pilgrims can touch the hands of a saint
(imagine a pilgrim rubbing the hand of a statue as he
prays; that often happened at shrines and still does
today). In other words, he could touch her hand, and
their two palms together would be like a holy palmer’s (a
pilgrim’s) prayer because pilgrims put two hands together
to pray.
Does she want to be kissed? Why or why not?
Romeo:
Juliet:
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
101
102
Summary: Romeo, not to be argued out of
kissing Juliet, asks, “Don’t saints and pilgrims
have lips, too?” She gets the metaphors he’s
using.
Romeo:
Juliet:
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
101
102
Summary: If Juliet is what Romeo says she is
above, then she can’t just start kissing him in
public, after knowing him for only a minute.
Plus, isn’t her mother probably watching her
from across the room to see if she and Paris are
flirting? So Juliet responds, “Yes, they have lips,
but those lips are meant for PRAYER, rather than
smooching.” But don’t think she’s too mad at
Romeo…
Romeo:
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
103
104
Summary: Romeo isn’t discouraged. He just told us a few
minutes ago, when he was talking to himself, that he’s
never seen true beauty until he saw Juliet this night. If
lips are meant for prayer, he argues, then let lips pray the
same way that hands pray—in other words, let their two
sets of lips come together in a kiss. To drive home his
point, Romeo pretends to pray to Juliet, as if she were a
saint, saying that if she doesn’t let lips pray, they lose
their faith—their belief in God—and then they become
depressed.
What word does Romeo use in line 104 for depression?
___________
Juliet:
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers'
sake.
105
Summary: Juliet still hasn’t given in to Romeo, not
quite. She says, “Sorry, saints don’t move, even
when they do grant prayers.” Shakespeare is
punning:
1: Move (verb) to start something. Saints
don’t move—it’s the pilgrim who has to come to
them.
2: Move (verb) to physically move.
Remember, the saints are usually statues of dead
people—saints don’t “move” because they’re made
from wood or stone.
Juliet:
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers'
sake.
105
Summary: But look at the second half of her
sentence. She gives Romeo an opening! She
says they “grant for prayers’ sake.” In other
words, saints give pilgrims what they are
requesting in their prayers. So if Romeo is
praying at this holy saint’s shrine (Juliet), maybe
this saint might just grant his prayer.
Romeo:
Then move not, while my prayer's effect I
take.
106
Summary: Romeo knows how to play on words;
he uses definition number 2 of “move.” He
moves in for a kiss after he asks her to stand
still. And then he kisses her!
(Adapted from http://web1.caryacademy.org/facultywebs/delia_decourcy/8thgradeEnglish/RomeoandJuliet/The%20Love%20Sonnet%20Dissected.notes.doc)
Individual task
• Pick out three of the most powerful lines in
this sonnet. Draw three images next to each to
show your understanding.
(5 mins)