William Shakespeares Sonnets William Shakespeare c 1564 1616

William Shakespeare’s Sonnets

William Shakespeare c. 1564 -1616 b. Stratford-upon. Avon, England Playwright, Poet, Actor Most famous for his plays All but 2 of his 154 sonnets were published in 1609

Shakespearean Sonnets 1609 Quarto only source of most 152 Shakespearean Sonnets. There are 3 categories of poems in this Quarto: 1 -126 are addressed to The Fair Youth 127 -152 are addressed to The Dark Mistress A Lover’s Complaint a 329 line poem written in Rhyme Royal

Shakespeare’s Addressees The Fair Youth (sonnets 1 -126) An unnamed young man Written to in loving and romantic language Some suggest this may be a homosexual love, others find support that it is platonic, or father-son love The Dark Lady (sonnets 127 -152) Given this name because of she is described as being dark haired The sonnets written about her express infatuation and are more sexual in nature

Shakespearean Sonnet Form Still 14 lines Broken into 4 parts 3 quatrains 1 rhyming couplet Written in iambic pentameter: ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Shakespearean Sonnet Form Rhyme Scheme: Quatrain 1: a b [introduces question] Quatrain 2: c d [tentative Quatrain 3: e f answers] Rhyming Couplet: g g [final answer] Volta: The turn or transition in line 9 which marks a shift in focus or thought

Sonnet 18 A B Shall 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 too short a date. C D Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

Sonnet 18 E F G G 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 grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 Shall 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 too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed. 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 grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.