Free Essays On Shakespeares Sonnet 55 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 55   Not marble, nor the gilded monuments   Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme   But you shall shine more bright in these contents   Than unswept stone 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 liveness record of your retentivity.   Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity   Shall you pace forth your praise shall still find room   Even in the eye of all posterity   That last this world out to the ending doom.   So, till the judgment that yourself arise,   You live in this, and dwell in lovers eyes.     Line 2* - The poet could be referring to his own sonnet specifically, or to poetry in general.   Line 4* - stone (1) gravestone set in the church pavement on which the memorial inscription is rendered illegible by accumulated dust and the footsteps of the c ongregation (2) uncared-for tumid 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 wide 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 most 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 otherwise 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 evermore. Som e critics argue that Shakespeares sudden swell of pride in his poetry was strictly artificial - a blatant attempt to mimic the name of the classical poets. It is difficult on any other hypothesis to reconcile the inflated egotism of such a one as 55 with the modest dedications to the Venus and Lucrece, 1593 and 1594, or with the expressions of humility found in the sonnets themselves, e.