Free Essays On Shakespeares Sonnet 55 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 55   Not marble, nor the gilded monuments   Of princes, shall pop outlive this powerful rhyme   But you shall shine more bright in these contents   Than unswept st maven besmeard with sluttish time.   When wasteful war shall statues overturn,   And broils root out the work of masonry,   Nor Mars his sword nor wars quick fire shall burn   The living record of your memory.   Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity   Shall you pace forth your praise shall still bring out room   Even in the eyes of all posterity   That wear this world out to the ending doom.   So, till the judgment that yourself arise,   You live in this, and consist in lovers eyes.     Line 2* - The poet could be referring to his own sonnet specifically, or to rhyme in general.   Line 4* - stone (1) gravestone set in the church pavement on which the memorial entry is rendered illegible by accumulated dust and the footsteps of t he congregation (2) uncared-for upright tomb or monument (the prey of dust and passing time) (G. Blakemore Evans, Shakespeares Sonnets, 163).   Line 7* - Mars is the roman god of war, often portrayed as a warrior in full battle armor, including a sword and shield. In Greek mythology Mars is known as Ares.   Line 12* - that refers to posterity, not to eyes.   Line 14* - Some scholars believe that Shakespeare is saying that his friend will be a source of inspiration for lovers everywhere (ie. dwell in the eyes of lovers everywhere). But it just about likely means that the poets friend will dwell in the eyes of people who grow to love the friend through the poets verse.   Sonnet 55 is one of Shakespeares most famous works and a noticeable deviation from other sonnets in which he appears insecure about his relationships and his own self-worth. Here we find an impassioned burst of confidence as the poet claims to have the power to keep his friends memory alive everm ore. Some critics argue that Shakespeares sudden swell of pride in his poetry was strictly artificial - a blatant attempt to mimic the style of the classical poets. It is difficult on any other hypothesis to reconcile the noble-minded egotism of such a one as 55 with the unassuming dedications to the Venus and Lucrece, 1593 and 1594, or with the expressions of humility found in the sonnets themselves, e.