ENGL 2305-003
19 September 2004
The poem I analyze in this paper is William Shakespeare’s sonnet 1. The main theme of this poem is about the importance of bearing children. I will support this thesis statement by a thorough analysis of the poem’s stylistic features and interpretation of its meaning.
The first quatrain of sonnet 1 not only introduces the main theme of the poem but also an extended metaphor comparing the roe to the subject that is used throughout the poem. In line one, the speaker says, “From fairest creatures we desire increase.” Some stylistic features of line one include alliteration of the words “From” and “fairest” and a stress on the pronoun “we.” The alliteration here gives added stress on the first part of “fairest.” The poet ties the words “creatures” and “increase” by the repetition of the “crea” sound. This gives the desired effect of tying together increase and human beings, thus the theme of the poem: humans reproducing. In addition, by looking at some of the stressed words and syllables, I notice that “fair” and “sire” pop out, and I think the “sire” is a hint that the speaker is addressing a man, possibly a man of nobility. I think this line means that humans seek the most desirable humans with whom to reproduce. The speaker then says, “That thereby beauty’s rose might never die” (2). The alliteration of the words “That” and “thereby” in line two seem to parallel the alliteration of line one. This stresses that the two lines are connected and helps the audience connect them as well. The poet unnaturally stresses the word “thereby,” and this brings attention to its definition of being connected with its following subject the rose. The first two lines together imply that humans, at least beautiful humans, reproduce to keep their beauty alive. Next, the speaker states, “But as the riper should by time decease” (3). While the break in natural stress of “decease” keeps the rhyme scheme, it also emphasizes the metaphor between the rose and human life. In the last line, the speaker says, “His tender heir might bear his memory” (4). In this line, the poet rhymes “heir” and “bear,” placing direct emphasis on the importance of bearing an heir. The quatrain, which forms a complete sentence, states that having children is the only way to preserve one’s beauty and memory.