Sonnet analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sonnet analyze - Essay Example Contrary to popular misconception, it is addressed, not to his lady-love, but to a friend, probably William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke 1. Shakespeare commences his sonnet by comparing the youth with summer, with its’ connotations of warmth and light, but then devotes the first two quatrains to listing the shortcomings of summer. Unlike the even-tempered disposition of his friend, summer is subject to excesses. It is a transient season, which flits away all too soon: the metaphor of the short lease (Line 4). The sun, â€Å"the eye of heaven,† (line 5) either blinds one with a surfeit of light, or vanishes behind overcast skies or the darkness of night. Capitulating to the inexorable march of time, nothing can adhere permanently to the ideal of beauty. In the third quatrain, Shakespeare acclaims the unchanging nature of his friends’ virtues, denoted by â€Å"thy eternal summer† (Line 9). His beauty, being of the mind and not of the body, will always remain wi thin his grasp. In the last two lines of the third quatrain and the concluding couplet, the poet asserts the immutability of his love for the youth, whom he has immortalized â€Å"in eternal lines† (Line 12). As long as the written word exists, his love will live on, beyond the reach of death. The sonnet apotheosizes both the poem and the poets’ Muse, concluding with the poignantly beautiful words: â€Å"So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee.† Coming to Sonnet 130, the first contrast to strike us is the difference between the straightforward paean of praise, which is Sonnet 18, and the light-hearted, satirical tone of Sonnet 130. All the three quatrains apparently mock the physical deficiencies of Shakespeare’s mistress: her eyes are less bright than the sun, coral outdoes her lips in redness, snow outshines her dull breast, her hair is far from the ideal of spun gold, she lacks the pink and white complexion of