Shakespeare Sonnets
While reading the following sonnets (P. 317-323), identify four of the following literary devices, and explain how these devices show the poem’s meaning.
Imagery
Simile
Metaphor
Rhyme
Symbol
Personification
Repetition
Tone
Sonnet 18: This sonnet’s speaker claims that his beloved is lovelier and milder than a summer day—but unlike summer, will love forever in his poem.
Device
Example from poem
How this shows the theme
Imagery
“rough winds do shake the darling buds of May”
The weather in the summertime is not always perfect; the speaker’s beloved is milder.
1. Metaphor
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
The speaker is comparing his love to a summer’s day which is warm and nice.
2. Personification
“Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,”
Death is near; But cannot brag about taking someone who is as beautiful as his beloved.
3. Repletion
“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this and gives life to thee.”
Beauty and memory of the speakers beloved will last forever.
4.) Where is the turn, or shift in thought? (Hint: usually in the third quatrain or the couplet)
“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” This is where the poem goes from talking about his love is as beautiful as a summer’s day but summer doesn’t last forever.
5.) According to the speaker, what will allow the subject of the poem to become immortal?
The speaker talks about eternal lines and as long as someone remembers the beauty of the subject it will live forever in their hearts.
Sonnet 29: This sonnet’s speaker feels envy and despair; he thinks about his beloved and realizes his good fortune.
Device
Example from poem
How this shows the theme
Personification
“When in disgrace with Fortune”
This shows that fortune is unpredictable and characterizes the speaker’s frustration with his fortune.
1. Similie
“Like to the lark at break of day arising.”
The speaker compares his love to the lark who sings in the morning.
2. Symbol
“Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope.”
The speaker wishes he was different and had what other people have.
3. Imagry
“When in disgrace with Fortune and Men’s eyes I alone beweep my outcast state.”
The speaker see’s all these men with their fortunes and he wishes he had the same.
4.) Where is the turn, of shift in thought? (Hint: usually in the third quatrain or the couplet)
The poem turns when the speaker says “Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising.” This is when the speaker starts to realize he is happy with his life because he has his love.
5.) What emotions does the speaker describe in the first two quatrains of “Sonnet 29”? What circumstances stir up these feelings?
The speaker goes from being depressed and wishing he had the fortune, look and skills of other men. Then his mood changes as he starts thinking about his love and becomes happy.
Sonnet 116: This sonnet’s speaker argues that true love is constant. Nothing can change it: neither the beloved’s alteration nor the passage of time.
Device
Example from poem
How this shows the theme
Metaphor
“It is the star to every wand’ring bark”
This compares his love to the star that helps sailors guide their ships, which reinforces that the love is constant
1. Imagery
“time wielding a sickle that ravages beauty's rosy lips and cheeks”
2.
3.
4.) Where is the turn, or shift in thought? (Hint: usually in the third quatrain or the couplet)
5.) What does the speaker say about love in lines 9-12?
Sonnet 130: Poking fun at conventional love poetry, this sonnet’s speaker says that his mistress is no goddess—just a real woman who is as extraordinary as those whose beauty is falsely praised.
Device
Example from poem
How this shows the theme
Imagery
“Coral is far more red than her lips’ red.”
Many love poems emphasize beauty; this shows that his mistress is not perfect.
1.
2.
3.
4.) Where is the turn, or shift in thought? (Hint: usually in the third quatrain or the couplet)
5.) During Shakespeare’s time, women’s role in society was evolving especially with the reign of Elizabeth I. In what ways does this sonnet reflect this context?
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