Shakespeare's Sonnets
Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets
A sonnet is a 14-line poem that rhymes in a particular pattern. In Shakespeare's sonnets, the rhyme pattern is abab cdcd efef gg, with the final couplet used to summarize the previous 12 lines or present a surprise ending. The rhythmic pattern of the sonnets is the iambic pentameter. An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable -- as in dah-DUM, dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM. Shakespeare uses five of these in each line, which makes it a pentameter. The sonnet is a difficult art form for the poet because of its restrictions on length and meter.
Although the entirety of Shakespeare's sonnets were not ...
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sonnets (Sonnets 138 and 144) and three poems included in the play Love's Labour's Lost. Apparently these five poems were printed in Jaggard's miscellany (a collection of writings on various subjects) without Shakespeare's authorization.
Without question, Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of his day, and his dramatic influence is still evident today, but the sonnet form, which was so very popular in Shakespeare's era, quickly lost its appeal. Even before Shakespeare's death in 1616 the sonnet was no longer fashionable, and for two hundred years after his death, there was little interest in either Shakespeare's sonnets, or in the sonnet form itself.
The text of Shakespeare's sonnets generally considered to be definitive is that of the 1609 edition, which was published by Thomas Thorpe, a publisher having less than a professional reputation. Thorpe's edition, titled Shake-speare's Sonnets: Never Before Imprinted, is referred to today as the "Quarto," and is the basis ...
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are addressed to a man and that the rest are addressed to a woman has become the prevailing contemporary view. In addition, a majority of modern critics remain sufficiently satisfied with Thorpe's 1609 ordering of those sonnets addressed to the young man, but most of them have serious reservations about the second group addressed to the woman.
Another controversy surrounding the sonnets is the dedication at the beginning of Thorpe's 1609 edition. Addressed to "Mr. W. H.," the dedication has led to a series of conjectures as to the identity of this person. The two leading candidates are Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, and William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke.
Because ...
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Shakespeare's Sonnets. (2016, January 12). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeares-Sonnets/105362
"Shakespeare's Sonnets." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeares-Sonnets/105362>
"Shakespeare's Sonnets." Essayworld.com. January 12, 2016. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeares-Sonnets/105362.
"Shakespeare's Sonnets." Essayworld.com. January 12, 2016. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Shakespeares-Sonnets/105362.
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