“Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare uses natural imagery and the ode in a completely different way. Shakespeare also uses natural imagery to create a comparison between his lover’s beauty and nature. He uses similes and metaphors to create strong imagery and he subverts the conventions of traditional love sonnets. In the sonnet “Garden of Beauty” by Edmund Spenser he compares his lover to be better or as good as the beautiful objects he compares her to. In “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare, natural imagery is used to show that his lover is not as pretty as the beautiful objects he describes her to.
In the first line of “Sonnet 130” we get an immediate impression that Shakespeare is saying nature is much more beautiful than his lover: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”. The word “nothing” proves that Shakespeare is saying his lover is definitely not as beautiful as nature. Shakespeare also may be suggesting that the other sonneteers may be lying about their lover’s appearance. I feel that he may be suggesting this because his language shows that he may be thinking that how could any person contain more beauty than nature.
Shakespeare continues to say that his lover is not as beautiful as objects from nature: “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red”. Shakespeare is showing that some poets such as Edmund Spenser who wrote “Garden of Beauty” do exaggerate.
In the sonnet “Garden of Beauty” Edmund Spenser compares his lovers breasts to lilies but in ‘Sonnet 130” Shakespeare uses an unusual comparison: “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun”. Shakespeare does not describe his lover’s breast to be like beautiful flowers but he describes them to be an off-white colour like dirty brown. Shakespeare does not follow the same romantic techniques that Edmund Spenser uses. At this point of the sonnet it made me feel that Shakespeare was not being romantic and it seemed he was insulting his lover.
Shakespeare describes his lovers cheeks to be empty without any colour: “I have seen roses damasked, red and white // But no such roses see I in her cheeks”. This is a completely different comparison compared to the “Garden of Beauty”. Shakespeare described his lover’s cheeks to be colourless but in “Garden of Beauty” Edmund Spenser describes his lover’s cheeks to be full of colour like a red rose. This shows that Shakespeare is describing his lover’s beauty in a completely opposite way.
In “Sonnet 130” Shakespeare simply wants to show that some poets may exaggerate about how beautiful their lover is. Shakespeare wants to show that there are things that are more beautiful than a woman’s appearance: “And in some perfumes is there more delight // Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks”. This shows that Shakespeare is showing how other poets exaggerate by saying that their lover smells better than perfume but Shakespeare is saying here that perfume smells better than his lover.
Throughout the sonnet you get the impression that Shakespeare is insulting his lover but line 9 is the first sign showing that Shakespeare does love his mistress: “I love to hear her speak”. This makes me feel that Shakespeare does not want people to think that he is saying his lover is ugly and also that he does not love her. However Shakespeare goes on to say that even though he loves to hear his mistress speak music produces a more pleasant sound: “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know // That music hath a far more pleasing sound”. The words “yet well I know” makes me come to a suggestion that Shakespeare is saying it is obvious that music will sound far better than a persons voice.
Shakespeare is just describing his mistress to be normal. He is saying that she does not have to be better than nature to have his love: “I grant I never saw a goddess go // My mistress when she walks treads on the ground”. This shows that Shakespeare is saying that how can other poets say that their lover’s are more beautiful than goddesses if they have never seen one. Shakespeare shows that other sonneteers may be liars because they describe them to be goddesses but no one has ever actually seen a goddess.
The last two lines turn the sonnet around because we can finally see evidence that Shakespeare loves his mistress: “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare // As any she belied with false compare”. I feel that this is an extremely romantic way to end this poem because Shakespeare is saying that he thinks his lover is as beautiful as all the other women that poets falsely compare to beautiful objects. This shows that Shakespeare loves his mistress for who she is even if she is not the most beautiful person in the world. He says that he loves her as much as the other poets love their mistresses even if they are prettier.
At first the tone of the sonnet made me feel that Shakespeare was insulting his lover but as you read through the sonnet you can see the romantic side to it. The language used in the sonnet is romantic to a certain extent. Rather than exaggerating like Edmund Spenser in “Garden of Beauty” Shakespeare talks honestly about his lover’s appearance.
When I finished reading “Sonnet 130” I understood how romantic this poem really was. Shakespeare uses the ode in a way, which shows he loves his lover.
“Sonnet 130” and “Garden of Beauty” are two romantic poems that deal with the same theme of love in different ways. Edmund Spenser uses the traditional way of writing a romantic sonnet by saying his lover is more beautiful than nature and Shakespeare does not waste time using comparisons which show his lover to be better than nature. Shakespeare shows that his lover does not have to be exceedingly beautiful to have his love and admiration. “Sonnet 130” is different to “Garden of Beauty” because Shakespeare shows that a person does not have to be beautiful to have someone to love them where as Edmund Spenser describes his lover as if she is the best thing he has ever seen in his life. There is one thing that these poems do have in common and that is they are both extremely romantic. Even though “Sonnet 130” may appear to be impertinent it is actually more romantic than “Garden of Beauty” because Shakespeare loves her for who she is.
I prefer “Sonnet 130” because it shows that love is extremely important. It shows that you do not have to be beautiful to love someone or receive love from someone because appearance is not a reason to not love someone. I think “Sonnet 130” is extremely romantic and shows love to be beautiful. It is full of romance and passion and the imagery it creates show that love goes beyond a person’s appearance.
The sonnets, “Surprised by Joy” and “Remember” both focus on the theme of love and loss. Both of these poets show that they have had to deal with a loved one dying and both sonnets show how painful it really is to lose someone you love tremendously deeply.
Perhaps loss and bereavement is the hardest aspect of love to express. Two sonneteers that attempt to deal with the theme of losing a loved one are William Wordsworth and Christina Rossetti. Although the themes are generally similar the tone of “Surprised by Joy” and “Remember” are hugely dissimilar. Christina Rossetti’s sonnet is a positive and ultimately selfless attempt to prepare a loved one for death; Wordsworth’s is an expression of heart wrenching grief and guilt.
“Surprised by Joy” by William Wordsworth deals with the loss of a child. I can only imagine how painful it is for a parent to outlive their children. William Wordsworth expresses his pain and guilt, because he enjoys a moment of joy, which brings back memories of his death child. He starts to regret that he let that memory, of his child, leave him for one small moment of time.
“Surprised by Joy” starts off by William Wordsworth seeing something beautiful that fills him with joy and has he turns to share the joy with his daughter, but realises that she is dead: “Surprised by joy impatient as the wind // I turned to share the transport O! with whom”. This shows William Wordsworth realises that his daughter has gone and he thinks he should not have forgot her. The words “Surprised by Joy” show that William Wordsworth is saying he has gone through so much pain and he was surprised when he found some joy in his life.
The third and fourth line of “Surprised by Joy” shows that William Wordsworth remembers that his daughter is dead: “But thee, deep buried in the silent tomb // That spot which no vicissitude can find”. This shows that William Wordsworth is remembering when his daughter died. When he says, “Deep buried in the silent tomb” this represents the death of his daughter.
William Wordsworth uses personification in the fifth line of “Surprised by Joy” to say that love brought back the memories of his daughter: “Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind”. This gives love human characteristics and creates the image of love bringing back his memories of his daughter. The repetition of the word “Love” emphasises his huge amount of love for his daughter.
In the sixth and seventh line of “Surprised by Joy” William Wordsworth begins to express his guilt for forgetting the memory of his daughter and replacing it with joy: “But how could I forget thee? Through what power // Even for the least division of an hour”. This shows that he believes he should not have let joy push aside the thoughts of his daughter. The words “even for the least division of an hour” shows that William Wordsworth is saying that he should not have forgot his daughter for the smallest part of time.
William Wordsworth goes on to talk about the moment the memories of his daughter came back to him: “Have I been so beguiled as to be blind // To my most grievous loss! That thought’s return // Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore”. This expresses the heart wrenching pain and guilt William Wordsworth is feeling. The words “Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore” mean that William Wordsworth is saying how much pain he feels. The word “Pang” means sharp pain and William Wordsworth uses it to say that because he forgot the memory of his daughter he has felt the worst pain ever.
William Wordsworth goes on to talk about the past; the moment he found out the devastating news of his daughters death: “Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn”. The repetition is used before in the poem to accentuate the large amount of love for his daughter. Here he uses the repetition of “one” to express his guilt that he could not help his daughter.
The last three lines of the sonnet are extremely poignant. Unlike other sonnets, William Wordsworth does not turn the meaning of the sonnet around to say that he should feel joy but ends the sonnet on a sad tone: “Knowing my heart’s best treasure was no more; // That neither present time, nor years unborn // Could to my sight that heavenly face restore”. This is terribly upsetting because it creates the image of a man that now is all alone, mourning over the death of his daughter. This makes me feel extremely sombre because of the devastating tone that ends the poem. He describes his child to be his “heart’s best treasure” and this shows how much he loved his daughter. The last two lines of the sonnet show that William Wordsworth realises that even if he mourns for years to come it will not bring back his daughter.
The language used in this poem shows that William Wordsworth wanted to express the heart wrenching, pain and guilt he was enduring. The tone of the poem is dreadfully poignant, emotional and melancholic because of the pain and misery that makes the sonnet. This sonnet makes me imagine how dreadful it would be for a parent to experience their child dieing.
“Remember” by Christina Rossetti also explores the theme of love and loss but towards the end of the sonnet the tone and language takes a dramatic turn. The tone of the sonnet starts to be poignant and melancholic but towards the end has a positive message and uplifting tone. The sonnet is about a woman expressing her love for her partner and she wants him to remember her after she has died. Christina Rossetti uses euphemisms like “gone away”. I think she does this because it appears that she does not want to say she is dieing because it is too painful for her lover.
In the sonnet “Remember” Christina Rossetti expresses the deep feelings of love that she feels for her partner. The tone starts off to be sombre and melancholic: “Remember me when I am gone away, // Gone far away into the silent land”. Christina Rossetti is trying to tell her lover that she is dieing. When she says, “Gone far away into the silent land,” she means that she is dieing and has left the world of living behind. This creates the image of her going to heaven and is happy but also sad. She wants to tell her lover that she wants him to remember her once she has died.
Christina Rossetti creates a distressing and upsetting image in line three of the sonnet “Remember”: “When you can no more hold me by the hand”. This creates an image of two lovers being torn apart because one of them is dieing. I think this is an extremely sad image because of the misery it creates.
Christina Rossetti also creates another sad piece of imagery because of the tone and language of the sonnet: “Remember me when no more day by day // You tell me of our future that you planned”. The words “no more” make it sombre because she is saying when she has died. It also creates the image of two happy lovers that were planning a future together but it has now been destroyed.
Christina Rossetti begins to sound serious in the seventh and eighth lines: “Only remember me; you understand // It will be late to counsel then or pray”. This shows that she is saying to her lover that she wants him to remember her because once she has gone she will be gone forever.
Throughout the sonnet so far, I got the impression that Christina Rossetti was quite selfish and egotistical. She was telling her lover that he should remember her and it seemed she had no concern for how much pain this would cause him. However, on the ninth line the sonnet takes a dramatic turn.
The sonnet seems to suddenly change its argument and Christina Rossetti suggests an alternative for her lover: “Yet if you should forget me for a while // And afterwards remember, do not grieve // For if the darkness and corruption leave // A vestige of the thoughts that once I had”. This suggests that Christina Rossetti is concerned for her lover and does not want him to grieve for her if he forgets her for a short time. She also talks about the atmosphere once she has died and she says she does not want it to destroy the good memories that they had. This makes me feel that Christina Rossetti is not selfish because she does not want to ruin the love they had.
The sonnet shifts in tone and argument. The word “yet” is particularly effective here. This fits in with what we know about the structure of a sonnet. Christina Rossetti has spent the first eight lines, the two quatrains, arguing that she wants to be remembered. Now, she is qualifying her wishes. This makes me feel that the narrator is displaying great tenderness and love towards the person she is speaking to: “If you should forget me for a while // And afterwards remember, do not grieve” makes it clear that the sonneteers priority, her most important concern, is the well being of her lover.
The last couplet of “Remember” displays marvellous love and great concern for Christina Rossetti’s lover. The couplet creates an extremely positive message: “Better by far you should forget and smile // Than that you should remember and be sad”. Christina Rossetti is saying that she would prefer it if her lover forgot her and was happy rather than him remembering her and continuing to mourn over her death. This shows that Christina Rossetti was trying to make the pain for her lover much weaker and help him return to being happy. It shows that she wants him to be happy because it does not matter what has happened because they had some wonderful times together. I think this shows Christina Rossetti was extremely caring and considerate.
At first the tone of the sonnet gives the impression that Christina Rossetti does not seem to care about her lovers emotions because she is telling him he must remember her. However, the couplet displays great consideration and changes the tone of the sonnet immediately. The tone of the sonnet becomes understanding and less melancholic.
This sonnet made me feel at first extremely sad and miserable because it creates the image of two lovers, who are deeply in love, are being ripped apart because one of them is dieing. When Rossetti says “When you can no more hold me by the hand” it made me feel extremely sombre because of the tone, language and imagery it creates. Conversely, towards the end of the sonnet the tone, language and imagery improves and shows things can get better if a loved one dies.
The sonnet “Remember” is different to “Surprised by joy” because “Surprised by joy” creates the image all through the sonnet of the of a depressed man and does not say anything which could shows that even though it is like you are feeling the worst pain in your life it can improve. “Remember” does start off like this but changes its argument and shows that a person should not mourn for the rest of their life but they can eventually find happiness. The sonnet “Remember” changes its language and tone causing it to give out a positive message unlike “Surprised by joy”.
I prefer the sonnet “Remember” because it shows how painful it is to loose someone but it does have a positive and uplifting message. It gives people hope because if they have lost a loved one the sonnet says that you should remember the good times that they had together rather than mourning the death of your loved one for the rest of your life. Also, I think Christina Rossetti uses euphemisms like “gone away” because she does not want to say the actual word (dying). I believe that this shows that she feels that if she says that word it will hurt her lover.
Two sonnets that deal with the theme of unrequited love are “Red and White roses” by Thomas Carew and “My love is like to Ice” by Edmund Spenser. This is must be one of the most painful types of love because you love someone and adore them but you get no love in return. Both of these poets show their admiration of their lovers and they both use certain colours and objects to represent their powerful love and their lover’s ignorance.
In the sonnet “My love is like to ice” by Edmund Spenser the poet says that his lovers love for him is like ice and his love for her is like fire: “My love is like to ice, and I to fire”. This shows that he is in love with this woman and she shows no concern for the amount of love he has for her.
Edmund Spenser then begins to show that their love is the opposite from what it should be like. He begins to say how can his fire not melt her ice: “How comes it then that her cold so great // Is not dissolved through my so hot desire // But harder grows the more I her entreat”. This shows that Edmund Spenser is saying that the more she refuses to love him, the more it makes him love her. He also says how can her ice not extinguish his fire: “Or how comes it that my exceeding heat // Is not allayed by her heart- frozen cold, // But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, // And feel my flames augmented manifold”. This shows that Edmund Spenser is once again saying even if she does not love him he loves her even more.
Edmund Spenser starts to question the basic course of nature. He begins to question this because he knows that fire should melt ice and ice should extinguish his fire but this is not happening. He says that their love must be special because they have defied nature with their love and that it must be true love because nothing has ruined it.
The last couplet of “My love is like to ice” shows that Edmund Spenser realises that love is extremely powerful and can change all of the natural way of life: “Such is the power of love in gentle mind, // That it can alter all the course of kind”. This shows that he believes love is tremendously powerful and is an extremely serious part of life.
The tone of this sonnet is happy because he is showing how powerful his love is for his lover. However the tone could also be a little sad because he is expressing all the love he has for this person but this person does not have any concern for his love and his lover does not give him any love in return.
The language used in the sonnet shows Edmund Spenser to be hyperbole exaggerating. He is using powerful words to represent their love and this seems to be overstated. However the language in the sonnet does show how powerful unrequited love is. The imagery in this poem is quite sombre because the words “My love is like to ice, and I to fire” create the image of a person that is deeply in love with another person but they get no love in return.
The sonnet “Red and White roses” is extremely similar to “My love is like to ice”. The colour of fire and ice is the same in this poem because Edmund Spenser used the red fire has his love for his lover and Thomas Carew uses the red roses to represent the pain he is feeling. Edmund Spenser uses the white ice to represent the love his lover has for him and Thomas Carew uses the white rose to represent the emptiness of his lover.
The first two lines of the sonnet “Red and White roses” shows that Thomas Carew is in an extremely vulnerable situation because it seems that he may be depressed: “Read in these roses the sad story // Of my hard fate, and your owne glory”. This shows that Thomas Carew is saying he has tried extremely hard for his lover to like him but it his work has achieved nothing.
Thomas Carew begins to talk about what the different colour roses represent: “In the white you may discover // The paleness of a fainting lover // In the red the flames still feeding // On my heart with fresh wounds bleeding”. This shows that the poet is using the imagery of colour to convey the contrasting emotions he feels.
Thomas Carew continues to express what the different colour roses mean to him: “The white will tell you how I languish // And the red express my anguish”. This also shows how Thomas Carew is using imagery to show his pain.
Thomas Carew shows that he receives no love in return by saying the roses do not grow together: “Have those roses thus divided”. This shows that Thomas Carew is expressing the pain he is feeling because his lover does not return the love. He uses the imagery of two roses not growing together because they cannot be together.
The last couplet of “Red and White roses” shows that Thomas Carew wants his lover to give him a chance: “Oh! Let your smiles but clear the weather // And then they both shall grow together”. This shows that Thomas Carew is so deeply in love with this woman that he thinks they should be together and that she should give him a chance.
The tone of this sonnet is at first depressing because of the imagery of a man that is deeply in love with a woman is depressed because she does not want him. This makes me feel sympathetic towards the man because he is desperately in love with this person that he cannot have.
The language used in this sonnet shows Thomas Carew to be desperate and sad because of the pain he is feeling. The words “of my hard fate and your owne glory” show that Thomas Carew is extremely sad because he wants the woman to love him but nothing works because she feels no differently towards him.
The imagery created in this poem is extremely depressing. One image that is created in this sonnet is two roses that cannot grow together. I think this is effective because he uses the roses to represent him and his lover and he uses them to say they cannot grow together because she does not love him. However later in the sonnet he says the roses could grow together if she gives him a chance.
The Sonnets “My love is like to ice” and “Red and white roses” are different for several reasons. Firstly, the tone of the sonnets are a little different because the tone of “My love is like to ice” has some happiness but “Red and White roses” has only a depressing tone. Secondly the repetition of the metaphor in “My love is like to ice” reinforces the sonneteers idea of love. In “My love is like to ice”, it seems impossible that the mistress will ever return the poet’s love; it seems to go against the basic law of physics. In “Red and white roses” the conflict is within the poet himself. He uses the image of roses, which is effective because of the associations roses have for the reader.
I prefer the sonnet “My love is like to ice” because the poet does exaggerate but he does not get depressed because the woman has not returned his love. He is upset because his love is not returned but there is a small part of the sonnet that to me appears to have a slight happiness to it.
In conclusion sonnets are extremely important poems that deal with emotions people experience everyday. They all explore love but in extremely different ways. The poets all express their feelings and emotions in a way in which makes you understand love and how powerful it actually is. In my opinion, I prefer “Sonnet 130” because it shows romantic love in a different way. Instead of using false comparisons it explains the true beauty of his lover and it is exceedingly romantic because it shows that she does not have to be as beautiful as a flower to receive his love. I think that sonnets are extremely inspirational poems which express true feelings and emotions.
