Shakespeare was famous for his sonnets, poems, and plays. He was most famous for his portrayal of love within his literature. Using the following websites choose two poems and compare how they use Shakespearean concepts within them. Choose one love poem and one focusing on another aspect and start comparing and contrasting from there.
http://www.poemhunter.com/william-shakespeare/
http://www.fathom.com/course/28701905/session1.html
Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
ReplyDeleteBlow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
William Shakespeare
This poem focuses on the effect that wind has. Meaning that this poem is not one of his love poems. His rhyme scheme differs from the normal in this. Shakespeare may not rhyme abab, but there is certainly a rhyme pattern occurring. The imagery within this poem is so vivid the wind seems to “bite” your face as it blows on by.
Sonnet 75: So are you to my thoughts as food to life
So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground;
And for the peace of you I hold such strife
As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found.
Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure;
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then bettered that the world may see my pleasure;
Sometimes all full with feasting on your sight,
And by and by clean starvèd for a look;
Possessing or pursuing no delight
Save what is had, or must from you be took.
Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,
Or gluttoning on all, or all away.
William Shakespeare
This sonnet by Shakespeare brings about a clear image of his desires. Then with this image, the desire seems to become one’s own. Both of the poems use imagery as a device to get the point across. Through this the emotions are thus revealed. Then the tones very greatly; due to the fact that one is talking about the wind passing and the other refers to a girl passing. Thus making the girl passing seem much more intimate. Through different poetry techniques different aspects become focused on in Shakespeare’s writing, but imagery seems to be a common gateway into the emotions expressed.
Sonnet XVIII: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
ReplyDeleteShall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
In “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”, the speaker of the poem begins by comparing the subject of the poem to a summer’s day. However, the speaker then begins to find some of the shortcomings of summer and how the youth of the subject will soon fade. But by the end of the poem, the speaker’s attitude shifts by becoming more optimistic by starting how the subject with have an “eternal summer” that “shall not fade”, making him in a way more beautiful than summer.
Sigh No More
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blith and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blith and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
“Sigh No More” gives an account on infidelity. It discusses how men are “deceivers” and always have “one foot in sea, and one on shore”, creating the betraying nature of men. Also, the poems tells the women not to worry about these men any longer because men have always been this way and will never change.
Even though both of these poems are by William Shakespeare, they are anything but similar. In terms of structure, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” follows the typical style of a Shakespearean sonnet with the rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g. “Sigh No More” still has a rhyme scheme but not in the form of the sonnet. Instead, its rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-c-c-d-c-d. The writing styles of the poems also differ. For “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”, Shakespeare uses a prolonged metaphor comparing the subject of the poem’s beauty to that of a summer’s day. “Sigh No More”, on the other, is more straightforward by explaining how men are often unfaithful in relationships. Finally, the main themes of the poems overall is probably the most stark. Both deal with love to some degree; however, they serve as an antithesis to each other. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” shows a positive perspective on love and passion. The speaker of the poem is comparing the subject to the happy and bright atmosphere of summer and later starts to state how he is the perfect image of beauty. “Sigh No More” is the complete opposite because of the fact that the speaker of the poem has a more pessimistic view on love. The speaker states how men have always been unfaithful in relationships and women should now cast away their worries and move forward because men are always going to be this way. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and “Sigh No More” are completely different in structure, style, and theme even though they are both by the same author William Shakespeare.
Sonnet 104
ReplyDeleteTo me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred;
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
“The Quality of Mercy”
The quality of mercy is not strain'd.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the heart of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.
To begin, while both poems have 14 lines, Sonnet 104 has a traditional Elizabethan rhyme scheme, while there is no rhyme in “The Quality of Mercy”. In addition, the themes of these poems are completely different. Sonnet 104 is an ode to a loved one, whose beauty never dies in Shakespeare because of the everlasting love that they share. “The Quality of Mercy” is simply a poetic and complex description of the nature of mercy and its nature in those with positions of power. Sonnet 104 is definitely a more typical example of a Shakespearean poem, due to its structure and its theme of love.
"It was a Lover and a Lass"
ReplyDeleteIT was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country folks would lie,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
This carol they began that hour,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
How that life was but a flower
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
And, therefore, take the present time
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
For love is crown and grave with the prime
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
"Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed"
'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed,
When not to be receives reproach of being;
And the just pleasure lost, which is so deemed
Not by our feeling, but by others' seeing:
For why should others' false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be shown;
Unless this general evil they maintain,
All men are bad and in their badness reign.
"It was a Lover and a Lass" and "Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed" are about a relationship not lasting and societal behavior, respectively. "It was a Lover and a Lass" refers to enjoying a relationship while it lasts because it's not likely to survive the difficult times inevitable with any relationship. This theme is also shown by the tone of the poem, which begins happily and ends forebodingly by foreshadowing the end of a relationship in the lines, "And therefore take the present time...For love is crown and grave with time". This poem also focuses more on imagery than "Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed" and speaks in third person, objectifying and generalizing the lovers in the poem. In "Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed," the theme creates sympathy for the subject and speaks in first person, personalizing the poem's message. "Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed" is saying that it's better to misbehave than to just have others think you are misbehaving. The tone of this poem is almost mischevious since it's saying that if people already think you're bad, you might as well be bad. This poem also is about an exasperation at the hypocrisy in society, which is summed up in the last line, "All men are bad and in their badness reign". Overall, the tone and literary techniques separate the themes of the poem, "It was a Lover and a Lass," and the sonnet, "Tis Better to be Vile than Vile Esteemed."
**REDIRECTION**
ReplyDeleteUsing one of Shakespeare's sonnets as a template, create your own sonnet and state how it is similar to the sonnet you mirrored.
A Fairy Song
ReplyDelete"Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire!
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours;
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear. "
This poem, quite obviously, has nothing to do with love. It exhibits Shakespeare's playful side, mainly due to the subject matter, but also the childlike quality of the song. It's main purpose is as a literal song sung by fairies, so a lot of the innocent and "magical world" references stem from these characters. Also lending to this playful quality is the rhyme scheme, which is a simple ababaabbaabb pattern.
Share |
From you have I been absent in the spring... (Sonnet 98)
"From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him,
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odor and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew.
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play."
This Shakespearean sonnet is immediately different from "Fairy Song" in its language, format, and tone. It is a poem of lamentation for a loved one who is far away, suggesting that while they are apart, the beauty of spring is as dead as winter until they are together again. The message is sweet, but it is really delivered through Shakespeare's use of Victorian language and his choice of word order. The duality of the two poems is a product of Shakespeare's dual audience to consider when he wrote. In some writings, he had to appeal to the common folk, who were, in that time, mostly uneducated, which meant his flowery language would be lost on them. He also had to cater to the higher class, who funded his plays and ultimately decided how successful his career would be. in my opinion, this is the most interesting dynamic of Shakespeare's work, and oftentimes it was what led to two poems that contrast in nature as greatly as the two above.
ugh sorry didnt see the switch up
ReplyDeleteShare |
ReplyDeleteFrom you have I been absent in the spring... (Sonnet 98)
From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him,
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odor and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew.
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play.
In darkest night you fill the sky
so brightly shining in summer's day
comes sickly now the moon's reply
its pallor lips devoid of ray
And sweetly still you do bequeath
unto the night a gift of light
as of my shoulder you did unsheath
a sword of mercy, a lifted sight
So dimly now do shine the stars
unblinded now I can observe
a world beyond the blackened bars
a cage of mourning for your verse
But once heard my love, your song will heal
and risen again i will appeal
I tried to imitate the flowered language of the first poem with mine, but I'm not sure if it turned out very well. The subject matter is also tragic love, and a feeling of loss and unrequited love?
Full Fathom Five
ReplyDeleteFull fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them,--ding-dong, bell
Feelings Show
Swallowing tears fill thy eyes
Washing the feelings of love away
I see you the one that i despise
For once listen to what I have to say
There are somethings i will rearrange
Because it is time for things to change
Wipe thy tears away and move on
Stop.
Wait! I'm already gone
I mirrored Shakespeare's poem by following the same arrangement of a sonnet. This Shakespeare poem is not, however, one of his tragic love poems. He is describing a situation of a man and his re-awakening, and my poem is filled with emotions as well as a re-awakening.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 80
ReplyDeleteO how I faint when I of you do write,
Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,
And in the praise thereof spends all his might,
To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame.
But since your worth (wide as the ocean is)
The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,
My saucy bark (inferior far to his)
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride,
Or (being wrecked) I am a worthless boat,
He of tall building, and of goodly pride.
Then if he thrive and I be cast away,
The worst was this, my love was my decay.
Yearning for Summer
Cold, harsh months do chill the bones,
It’s not a myth, for it freezes to the core,
Raw winds slice through (oh the dreadful drone)
How I yearn for the summer of yore.
Why today do I feel this desire?
The air around me was warm for the first time,
A golden yellow sun descended a dwindling fire,
The perfect end to a day sublime.
And so thought I of the days of summer,
How I’d trade for the oppressive heat and humidity,
And afternoon showers (that can be a real bummer)
Spare me they would of this winter absurdity!
For now I expect that winter will prevail,
Though the groundhog proclaims that spring may soon hail.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 80 utilizes line opening prepositions and active verb use throughout the primary structure of his poem, which consists of three quatrains terminated by a traditional couplet. I replicated this structure and included the use of parentheses that serve to capture the personal humor and the speaker’s voice. Shakespeare had this way of capturing his primary purpose through serious, but witty humor (perhaps even dry by today’s standards). I implemented similar humor into my work, “Yearning for Summer,” though my integration was much more straightforward and outright in conveying the speaker’s frustrations.
54
ReplyDeleteO how much more doth beauty beauteous seem,
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odour, which doth in it live:
The canker blooms have full as deep a dye,
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly,
When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:
But for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwooed, and unrespected fade,
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so,
Of their sweet deaths, are sweetest odours made:
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall vade, by verse distills your truth.
The world that all view, it is but a dream
Created from the heart’s own desires
For in it we all wish ourselves redeemed
And live the life to which we try to aspire
But truth is fleeting and far between
Deceit by lies and half truths abound
The trust misplaced in what our eyes have seen
Take heed of feelings and be not confound
For insight and understanding overcome
Truth becomes clear to those that search it out
Though lies pervade, do not succumb
For under pressure lies shall be route
Truth will become diamond, clear and steadfast
See beyond the surface to that which wills ev’r last
I used the same theme, that truth will last forever, and I touched on the theme that beauty is only skin deep. I kept it in sonnet format.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this blog! @ Brennan you did a great job, as well as everyone else it was well done and caused a great conversation between everyone. @ Maura.. **REDIRECTION**
ReplyDelete"Using one of Shakespeare's sonnets as a template, create your own sonnet and state how it is similar to the sonnet you mirrored. " thank you for redirecting, it allowed people to think more openly and more abstract opening their minds to the rest of the poetry world! @ josh you did a great job analyzing your poem, i liked the "lamenation for a loved one" aspect yo you through in.