I will prove this is true in the following paragraphs Shakespeare uses a large variety of metaphors and similes. A metaphor found in Sonnet 116,” Loves not Times fool, though rosy lips and cheeks” is a symbol of outer beauty that changes with time. Sonnet 138 shows a similar image, “When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her, though I know she lies,” paints the picture of love in a similar way. Both the poems are depicting a love that has been through good and bad that have developed over time. For instance beauty fading with time and also trust fading.
Love is wanting to make another feel good. Throughout the history of mankind love has been defined as universal, mysterious and complex. This is why many poets throughout history and modern poets still choose to make love the topic of conversation in their poems because it’s a unique and mysterious feeling that can be interpreted in many various ways. The theme of love is discussed in the poems ‘Sonnet 130’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Anne Hathaway’ by Carol Ann Duffy. In ‘Sonnet 130’ Shakespeare describes his mistress’s eyes as ‘nothing like the sun’, this goes against the normal conventions of a traditional sonnet.
Both poems generally give a positive overview of love; both poets suggest that love is never ending and can battle through bad situations. Shakespeare’s sonnet takes the form of argument, talking about the unchanging and eternal qualities of love whilst Browning’s sonnet is like a direct poem to her husband discussing the nature of her love for him. Shakespeare starts the poem with the imperative “let me not to the marriage of true minds” which sets the tone and exploration of true love. Browning also starts with the imperative “how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!” She starts the poem with how suggesting that we can say that we love someone but we can never define the nature of true love.
Most people would say using my instead of his would have the same meaning, but they would be wrong. Marvell uses his because to use my would imply that he himself is the speaker of the poem when if fact Marvell is not. Marvell writes this poem in the perspective of an impatient man who is desperate to be with a certain young lady. That is the man whom the mistress so belongs to; not Marvell. The word coy makes the mistress appear that she may have feelings for the speaker, but the speaker is unsure and that is the purpose of the poem.
Browing presents her poem in first person, making it clearly connected to her directly. She uses I and my, making it personal giving the sonnet a sense of identification. When looking at the sonnet strictly on a feature basis, it is seen that there is rhythm, a stanzaic pattern, imagery, connotation, style etc… these are presented in different ways throughout the sonnet, for example when speaking of the rhythm it follows a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. The stressed syllables being the important, and most effective ones. Instead of using synonyms for the amount of times she put love into the sonnet, with the repetitiveness it is clear the kind of message she was trying to put across.
The image of Benedick "wast[ing] inwardly" is used playfully as the audience know it isn't true. Perhaps Shakespeare has include this image of a lovesick Benedick to further satirise the type of love so meaningfully presented in Petrarchan poetry. This contrasts sharply with the nature of Romeo and Juliet's declaration of love. Like Juliet, Beatrice also takes charge of the relationship once Benedick has sworn his love for her. However, unlike Romeo, Benedick swears his love on his hand, proving perhaps that he will prove his love through his actions, not just words.
He wrote as well that a price cannot be put upon love; “whose worth’s unknown”. This can have a positive effect on people’s comprehension at the point Shakespeare is trying to make, as everything these days has a price, so something that is priceless should be something amazing and sought after. To His Coy Mistress explains love in a completely different way. The subject of the poem is a man trying to get his mistress to sleep with him and he is using metaphors about love and time to try and convince her to ‘seize the day’. The fact that it is a man telling a woman that they love each other and
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. In Act 3, scene 1, Olivia displays the confusion created for both characters and audience as she takes on the traditionally male role of wooer in an attempt to win the disguised Viola, or Cesario. Olivia praises Cesario's beauty and then addresses him with the belief that his "scorn" (3.1.134) only reveals his hidden love. However, Olivia's mistaken interpretation of Cesario's manner is only the surface problem presented by her speech. The reality of Cesario's gender, the active role Olivia takes in pursuing him/her, and the duality of word meanings in this passage threaten to turn the traditional patriarchal concept of courtship upside down, or as Olivia says turn "night to noon" (139).
The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g; the last two lines are a rhyming couplet. The style of sonnet written in the Elizabethan era were all essentially inspired by the Petrarchan tradition, and generally of the poet's love for some woman; with the exception of Shakespeare's sequence. The form is often named after Shakespeare, not because he was the first to write in this form but because he became its most famous practitioner. I will read to aloud to you sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
How does Elizabeth Barrett Browning present a progression of love in her sonnets? The intensity and power in love strengthens over time so long as the love is genuine. This concept of love is highlighted greatly in the Elizabeth Barrett’s collection of sonnets. The sonnets exemplify changing ideas of love and the progression of love. Contrast plays an important factor in her collection of poems.