“So long as men can breathe and eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
There are different interpretations to this ending. It can appear as a resounding proclamation, a confident conclusion to the poet’s argument, or as an unexpected ending – “sting in the tale” or “twist”. The poet has been praising the beauty of the person addressed, seeing it as superior to the beauty of nature. It is not just superior in quality, but also in the fact that her beauty is “eternal”. Her beauty would be appreciated as long as “men can breathe and eyes can see.” We can also see Shakespeare’s confidence, as he is suggesting that this sonnet would become famous, and indeed he is correct and so his beloved would be given “life” even after her death. This can be seen as controversial as Shakespeare uses strong words to highlight the woman’s beauty and perhaps demeans God’s creation as God was thought of as the best and omni-potent (because Shakespeare compares the woman to nature and sometimes saying that she is greater than nature). At the time, religion played an important role in society.
In comparison to “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” the sonnet, “My Mistress’s Eyes” is rather awkward and peculiar the way that the poet has expressed his love. In sonnet 130, we can see that again, the poet is comparing his mistress to nature, but in a rather negative way – “eyes are nothing like the sun” and so suggests that she is unattractive. In the next line, he again uses nature and again expresses this in a pessimistic way: “coral is far more red than her lips red”. He continues to express unattractive comments, like the word “dun”, her complexion is dull and boring. He then insults her by saying she has “black wires grow on her head”. He then comments on her cheeks, “no roses see I on her cheeks” – again, using a negative comment and yet the poem is supposed to be a love sonnet. He then uses the word “reeks” to describe her breath which is extremely offensive as it is a very strong and powerful word; at the time there were no dentists and so breath would have smelt. These first 8 lines are rather negative and uncomplimentary to her beloved and perhaps so negative that the reader is left with the impression that she is almost unlovable.
However, in the next six lines, things tend to be much more constructive and encouraging. He states “I love to hear her speak” which is the first nice remark he has made in the whole sonnet, although afterwards, he writes that he would prefer to hear music as it has a “far more pleasing sound.” He then claims that he “never saw a goddess go” perhaps mocking other poets as other sonnets tend to state outstanding and extra-ordinary comments about their lover. The next line says that his mistress is normal as “when she walks treads on the ground” as she is not a goddess roaming around and mysteriously or seductively and perhaps suggesting that genuine and normal is far better than any goddess in her merely human qualities and her mortal features. In the couplet he believes that his love is special and “rare” and the last line sums it all up by saying that other ridiculous comparisons are ludicrous. We can see from this sonnet that Shakespeare has used the sonnet form to express his love in an odd manner. The poet challenges the conventions of love poetry by using negative and uncomplimentary words instead of exaggerated niceties. Shakespeare here is being satirical towards other poets by using more realistic comparisons rather than exaggerated comparisons and even possibly mocking himself as he too has used exaggerated comments in sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.” So, this could be a parody of other poetry of other poets.
“How Do I Love Thee?” is a Petrarchan sonnet written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the 19th century. It contains an iambic pentameter – rhyming a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-c, d-c-d. In the octet, the poet addresses her general theme – in the sestet she presents her conclusion. This sonnet is about love and spirituality (religion). There are different interpretations of this sonnet, about who is addressed to – God or Jesus or her loved one. Possibly, it is not addressed to God as in the penultimate line, it says “and, if God choose” and so you would not state that phrase if it was addressed to God. Considering if it is addressed to her loved on, How do I Love Thee is an answer to the stereotypical male question to his loved one: how much do you love me? The poet’s response in the first line is almost satirical: “how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” almost as though she has thought of the answer before. In fact, browning uses the repetition of “I love thee” eight times finally ending with “I shall but love thee”. The first stanza is about religion and spirit as she says the words: “soul” and “ideal Grace” which may suggest that she is religious. In the second stanza, it’s about more everyday things: “candlelight”. The word “Right” can be interpreted in some ways. It could mean to perform good deeds or perhaps to choose who to love. She includes more religious quotes, “as they turn from Praise”. In the next stanza, she continues to say the ways in which she lovers her lover. “And with my childhood’s faith” suggests that she was religious as a child or possibly to be innocent as a child reflects innocence. The last line of the third stanza suggests that she could have lost her love but lost it temporarily, referring to her lover or to God – so she may have lost faith. The first words of the last stanza also suggests that she has lost faith “with my lost saints” so she has religious feelings. “Breath, smile tears, of all my life,” suggesting that she cannot live without him as breathing is the essence of life. The she says that through ups and downs of her life, nothing would sway her away from her lover. In this sonnet she is expressing her love in religious terms. It shows the extent of the writer’s love and possible relationships (lover, God).
According to this sonnet, she loves her man: spiritually (“my own soul”); tenderly (“most quite need”); of her own free will (“freely, as men strive for Right”); solely “purely”; sexually (“passion put to use”); innocently (“with my childhood’s faith”- possibly her strict religious way of childhood); and absolutely (“I love thee with the breath/ smiles, tears, of all my life”). She concludes by saying she will love him eternally – “after death”. The poet’s use of enjambment on five occasions tends to give the impression of fluidity and speed: as though the response to the question is rushed in its emotion. So, the writer has used the sonnet’s form to express the idea and emotion of love with hints of religion.
The sonnet, “Remember” has two main themes: love and death. It was written by Christina Rossetti in the 19th century. This is a fourteen-line poem divided into an octet and a sestet (a Petrarchan sonnet). The rhyming scheme in the octet is a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. In the sestet, the rhyming (short hand) scheme is c-d-d e-c-e. This poem is written in the first person as it suits the idea of one remembering somebody else. It is about the poet asking to be remembered after her death. The poem commences with an imperative or a command – “remember me” and the first line concludes with “gone away”. This could be described as a euphemism as it avoids the harsh term of “death” to not sadden the reader and so it has referred to death indirectly. This first line is a loving, yet sad request. As the sonnet unfolds, the reader understands that death will divide the couple, and the initial hint of that is the phrase "silent land" to describe the place the speaker is going. The words seem to define an individual grave more than heaven, and "silent," in particular, implies an inactive state — an existence and a place that are neither merry nor painful, pleasant nor sad. The first couple of lines also suggest that she and her partner have a close and tender relationship “you can no longer hold me by the hand.” She then continues to beg of him to remember her and repeats the word “remember” many times. These first lines are about the past and the poet asking her lover to remember. The next eight lines are somewhat different. This form of poetry provides a division in between the octet and sestet, due to the different number of lines and a different rhyme scheme. This means that there would be a shift in thought or feeling which brings about a different idea or perspective into the sonnet. The key to this shift lies within the word “Yet”. This is the pivotal point of the sonnet. She is being kind and sincere by asking her lover not to feel aggrieved if he forgets her once in a while. This is almost an afterthought after what she had just said as she does not wish to cause any grieving. This sestet is focusing on the future and to move on from any disappointment or moment of sadness. And so concludes by saying that if thinking about their past relationship should in any way make the person sad, it is better to “forget and smile” than to “remember and be sad”. The poet has used the form of a Petrarchan sonnet to suggest this change in thought and feeling.
“Death Be Not Proud” is a poem written by John Donne (1572-1631) and has been formatted in a rather strange manner. John Donne is talking about death and how the impact of death had on religion. It is a rather irregular Petrarchan sonnet, with a rhyming scheme of a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-d, c-a-e. Donne may have written this sonnet because death was a common, especially during the Black Plague. About a third of the population were affected by the horrendous disease and so it was a topical issue at the time. So Donne is perhaps writing this sonnet to condemn death and its importance. The sonnet itself is rather strange though, as it seems as if he is talking to death rather than talking of it. Some people have called death “Mighty and dreadful” but Donne does not agree. He continues to say that death cannot kill him: “nor yet canst thou kill mee.” He speaks of the similarity between death and the peaceful nature of sleeping as people at the time believed that sleep was a “kind of death”. Donne saying that death is just a picture of peace. He then says that even if you kill our loved ones, you are still giving their body rest and freeing their soul. Here he is teasing death as it does us no harm. He then says that death is a slave to “Fate, Chance, and desperate men” suggesting that they decide when people die, not death. Death is a slave which only does the action. Here, we can see the capitalization of “Fate and Chance” and so these are superior to death as death was not capitalised. He then says that poison, war, sickness and pills may kill us but so what? He then states “why swell’st thou then” asking death why do you swell with pride. He believes that death is just a small sleep and it will not do us damage. He then says, “wee wake eternally.” He believes that we will live forever spiritually and nothing would stop life. He then makes a controversial statement, “death, thou shalt die.” How can death die itself? In this poem Donne is creating a message that death will not succeed in the end and life goes on spiritually. People at the time were afraid of death and John Donne wrote this poem pitying death. As he believes in the afterlife, he says “wee wake eternally” as our life continues and nothing can stop it and so his religious beliefs have an impact on his view about death. John Donne is mocking death and insults death and destroys its power. In this poem, we can see that Donne has used the sonnet form to create a strong view on death as just a moment in our life and fate and chance decide death, not death itself.
Although I have found the study of these sonnets challenging, I have rather enjoyed reading them. The subject-matter of these sonnets is serious but of real interest. Shakespeare’s two love sonnets were rather intriguing because in one sonnet he seems to by mocking the style of other sonnets; My Mistress Eyes. Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” has, in my opinion, conveyed a message of importance – that she does not want her loved ones to be sad about her death – and this is a brave poem. Finally, I admired John Donne’s attack on Death: the poem has a healthy attitude to dying and living. Perhaps poets today find sonnet writing too restrictive in terms of form because it allows the writer to have more freedom to convey his/her message and also that sonnet writing has become out of fashion. This may be because medical advancement since the Second World War has caused writing sonnets about death to almost deteriorate because nowadays, we can cure diseases and so it is not a major issue anymore. So, modern poets today write serious and challenging poetry but not in sonnet form.
