Both sonnets have similar structures. They are in sonnet form, with 14 lines including three quatrains and one couplet. They both have tight structures, with a Shakespearean rhyming scheme and iambic pentameter in both. The difference with the structures is that the message is divided in different parts. In sonnet 29 it is divided at the start of the third couplet. At this point the sonnet goes from being sad, for example “In disgrace with fortune and men's eyes/I all alone beweep my outcast state”, to being hopeful, as described earlier. Sonnet 71 has a different division, this one is at the couplet. It is at this point in which the true meaning of the poem is uncovered, the message that the poet only wants the subject of the poem to forget him so that people will not “mock you with me after I am gone.”.
Both sonnets use consonance and alliteration in order to fully get their message across. Sonnet 29 has consonance in the first line, with the 's' sound repeated in disgrace, men's and eyes. This makes me think of a sighing sound, which compliments the content of the first quatrain. This consonance on the letter s continues for the whole sonnet nearly, with outcast, state, bootless, cries, myself and curse in the same quatrain plus many more like desiring, thoughts, despising, etc. These 's' sounds add to the sadness of the poem, and so it is natural that by the third quatrain, when the poem begins to light up, the 's' sounds are complimented by the 'l' sounds in like and lark. This alliteration sounds musical, and makes the quatrain feel happier. While in sonnet 29 the 's' sound is repeated throughout the sonnet, in sonnet 71 there is a different alliteration in each line of the first quatrain, for example “mourn for me”, “surly sullen bell” and “vile world with vilest worms”. In the second quatrain the tone softens, with the repetition of the 'th' sound like in the words thoughts, thinking and then. The rest of the sonnet continues with constant alliteration on nearly every line, eg. “compounded with clay” or “let your love with life decay”. They are similar in that they both use lots of alliteration, but it is used differently in each. Both poems also sound very negative until their respective changes in message, which was the third quatrain for sonnet 29 and the couplet for sonnet 71.
The diction in both poems is , for the most part, thoroughly negative. Sonnet 29 used diction like 'in disgrace', 'outcast state' and 'bootless cries' to create a negative picture of the poet's situation in the reader's mind. This continues up to the change in message, in which the diction changes form. It is especially obvious with the term 'sweet love'. This poem would not have seemed to anyone like 'sweet love' would fit, but here it does, as part of a huge turnaround by the poet. Sonnet 71 is very similar in this way. It once again uses negative diction like 'surly', 'sullen' and especially the repetition of 'vile'. This sets the mood for the whole sonnet, a bleak and miserable one. However, while sonnet 29 brings a change in this, with the happier last quatrain, sonnet 71 just keeps up the dark mood with the sonnet. The message does change, but the diction remains dark with 'moan' and 'mock'. The similarity is that they both use very negative diction, but the difference is that in sonnet 29 this diction changes at the end to give off a happier tone.
These of these sonnets have similar imagery, structure, sound and diction. However, both have many little things that make the poem unique. Whether it is the fact that there is more imagery for what the poet is feeling than real images, or different alliteration, or even a different change in message, the poems feel very different from each other. They both start off with a negative tone, using negative diction and sound, but while sonnet 29 gives us a happier feeling, sonnet 71 just compounds it with the couplet, as you see what the real message. For me, it even sounds a little scary that the whole 'wise world' will mock the poem's subject just for mourning Shakespeare's death. However, the way the poem is written it just sounds fairly sad. Shakespeare appears to be an expert at making you feel like he does, and it is fairly obvious how his work lasted as long as it did, if it can make me feel the same way he did nearly 400 years later. It shows just how transcendant his work is, changing how I think through both time and location.
