Three love sonetts

Shakespeare's Sonnets were first published in 1609 and comprise 154 poems. The exact circumstances of their creation remain one of the most fascinating mysteries of literary history. Apart from the play Hamlet they are the topic most frequently discussed by Shakespeare scholars. Today it is generally agreed that Shakespeare wrote these sonnets between 1590 and 1594. The poems were written for a patron of Shakespeare, the young Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. Some of the poems seem to be highly autobiographical. The following selection of three sonnets all deal with various aspects of a very human experience: LOVE!

Henry Wriothesley 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624), in a portrait attributed to John Decritz, the Elder
(c. 1552-1642).

The Earl was one of Shakespeare's strongest supporters and a very good friend.

Before you read the sonnets, do the following exercise:

1. Write down all the statements you can think of that you might hear in connection with the idea of love, e.g. "Love is blind". These might be partly your own thoughts, partly themes of literature and films you know, and common opinions. Include thoughts about how a person feels who is in love.

2. Hold a brainstorming in which you combine everyone's ideas, e.g. on a large sheet of paper.

When you read the sonnets, see if you can find any of these ideas in them.

Sonett 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

marriage here: unity
to admit here: to allow to enter
impediment s.th. which stops s.th. else from developing
to alter to change
to remove here: to change
mark here: signal for ships
tempest (old use) storm
bark sailing ship with 3 masts
taken here: measured
compass here: reach, i.e. area of effectiveness
to bear s.th. out to be strong and patient despite difficulties
doom final disaster, end of the world (death)
to prove here: to demonstrate

A closer look

1. List the metaphors for love in the sonnet.

2. What does Shakespeare say love is not?

Sonett 91

Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their body's force;
Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill;
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,
Wherein it finds a joy above the rest;
But these particulars are not my measure:
All these I better in one general best.
Thy love is better than high birth to me,
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,
Of more delight than hawks or horses be;
And, having thee, of all men's pride I boast -
Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take
All this away, and me most wretched make.

to glory in to be very proud of
birth here: social class s.o. is born into
garments clothes
new-fangled new but neither necessary nor better
ill here: unattractive, of poor quality
hawk bird which catches small animals; used in Shakespeare's day by hunters
hound hunting dog
humour here: type of personality
adjunct added to s.th.
measure standard
to better to improve on
wretched very unhappy, in very low spirits

A closer look

1. Write down what Shakespeare is saying in each stanza in one short sentence.

2. How does the mood of the sonnet change in the rhyming couplet (two concluding lines, separate from the stanza before them, with end rhyme)?

In your opinion

1. What sort of things are people proud of today, as signs of status - i.e. what would you place in the first stanza from today's point of view?

Sonnet 27

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head
To work my mind when body's work's expired;
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see;
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.
Lo, thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.

toil (old use) hard work
repose (old use) rest
limb leg or arm
to expire to come to an end
to abide (old use) to stay or live (in a place)
zealous highly motivated
pilgrimage journey to a holy place as an act of religious faith
thee (old use) you
to droop to hang down
save here: except
ghastly horrible, extremely unpleasant
lo (old use; exclamation) see
thus in this way

A Closer Look

Who is the poet addressing?
Briefly summarize the message of this sonnet!

Review

1. Which of the sonnets do you like the most?

2. Write out one of the sonnets in modern English prose (not worrying about rhyme).

3. Learn one of the sonnets off by heart so that you are able to recite it.

In your opinion

1. Are Shakespeare's thoughts about love different from yours? Is his understanding of love antiquated or up-to-date? Discuss.