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SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS
Not quite “much ado about nothing”
Shakespeare’s Sonnet #2WHEN forty winters shall besiege thy brow
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,
Will be a tottered weed of small worth held:
Then being asked where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
To say within thine own deep-sunken eyes
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
How much more prasie deserved thy beauty's use
If thou couldst answer, 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,
‘Proving his beauty by succession thine.
This were to be new made when thou art old
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st cold.
RHYMING
Iambic Pentameter: what is it? An iambic “foot” is one unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow
The symbol ˘/ is used to show an iambic foot. The “ ˘ ” shows the unstressed syllable and the “ / “ shows the
stressed syllable.
Iambic Pentameter: What is it? Meter is the basic rhythm structure
of a poem…”the beat” you hear when you read it
Pentameter is meter that occurs 5 times in a line Iambic Pentameter is a poetry form that
uses 5 iambic feet per line of the poem
˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow
Shakespeare’s Sonnets always following this rhyme scheme:
A When forty winters shall beseige thy brow,
B And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
A Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,
B Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held:
C Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies,
D Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
C To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes,
D Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
E How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use,
F If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine
E Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,'
F Proving his beauty by succession thine!
G This were to be new made when thou art old,G And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Rhyming PatternsNotice that
both “A” lines rhyme at the
end.
Each sequence of four (ABAB) is called a QUATRAIN
Sonnets will end in a couplet: what do you think that means?
What makes Shakespearean Sonnets Special?
Written in Iambic Pentameter They are 14 lines long They have 3 quatrains
and end in one couplet Follow the
ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyming scheme…
EVERY TIME!
IMAGERY
Siege
•Siege (noun): the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible.
Shakespeare uses this image to battling with age to describe our battle with growing older
“When forty winters shall beseige thy brow, And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field” (lines 1 and 2)
LIVERY“Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held”(lines 3 and 4)
Livery (noun):characteristic dress, garb, or outward appearance
Livery were beautiful, ceremonial clothes worn by servants and loyal men at arms
Shakespeare is pointing out how livery, a form of beauty, should be admired
Just like clothes, however, beauty will fade and pass away
TREASURE!•Shakespeare equates beauty with something of value…i.e. something that should be saved and passed on to others
• Do you think beauty is so important?
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