User:Skainth89/sandbox

Biography
William Shakespeare, born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England in 1564 was a Playwright and Poet in the 16th and early 17th Century. His death occurred on April 23rd 1616 and he was buried in his birth town two days later. He is best known for his Plays and Poetry, which after continual re printing in the years that followed his death gave him the reputation of one of the best poets in English History. He was also known for his acting and role as Theatre Administrator. political and public successes came quick for the playwright and during his career he became part owner of The Globe Theatre. During Queen Elizabeth's reign he co-founded the acting company known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men. After Elizabeth's death and the coronation of James I the company renamed themselves as The King's Men in his honour. Shakespeare is commonly thought to be the greatest writer in the world. His works appeal to all and cover a broad range of human experiences such as love, death, guilt, friendship, and conflict.

The Sonnet
The Sonnet form was bought to high popularity with writers in its place of origin, Italy, by Francesco Petrarch (1304-74)in the height of the Fourteenth Century. He used this style of poem to express feelings of deep affection weather it be beautiful or painful and often included Religious imagery. It was bought to England and its structure, rhyme scheme and meter adapted to fit the English language by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey Henry Howard in the Sixteenth Century. The Sonnet can be seen a lens for viewing the last 400 years.

To listen to a reading of the sonnet click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBYBFqsKchQ

Shakespeare's Sonnets
A Shakespearian Sonnet is traditionally written in Iambic Pentameter, with each of its fourteen lines consisting of ten syllables. The rhyme scheme of each quatrain is done only once for example; abab cdcd efef, which is followed by a rhyming couplet to end of gg.

Although different from his plays, all 154 of Shakespeare's Sonnets published in 1609, maintain a dramatic feel, a rounded story and are to be seen as a collection of poems rather than a sequence. This 1609collection is thought to be an unauthorized printing by Thomas Thorpe due to the incompletion and draft work of various Sonnets. W. H. Auden, wrote in 1964 that "I am quite certain, as one writes a diary, for himself alone, with no thought of a public.  When the sonnets are really obscure, they are obscure in the way that a diary can be, in which the writer does not bother to explain references which are obvious to him, but an outsider cannot know." .The first 126 Sonnets are thought to be written to a young nobleman of whom the speaker loves dearly. The remaining 28 sonnets are written to a woman whom the writer loves and hates known as 'the dark lady'. As does the identity of these two muses and the circumstances surrounding the creation of his Sonnets, the identity of one Mr. W.H to whom the collection is dedicated also remains a mystery.Each poem can be read a single entity with its own story or read as an element of the overall collection

"There is much to support the view which holds that the Sonnets are a series of verse letters written to two people on the subject of the poet's relation to them." Edward Hubler, 1952

The Shakespearian Sonnet has a rhyme scheme that spans over eight rhymes so that each is only heard once, and traditionally ends with a rhyming couplet.

Below are the original 1609 Quatro and amended versions of Sonnet 116 along with an analysis.

Sonnet 116




Analysis
Quatrain 1

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

'''Admit impediments. Love is not love''' - The narrator states that true love is the union of two minds, in which no obstacles can stand in the way of.

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove: - The narrator then goes on to clarify what love does not do, as it does not change when changes occur in loved ones nor does it fade when attempts are made to remove affection. Thus love is presented as unchanging and constant.

Quatrain 2

O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; - The dramatic opening of the second quatrain marks the change from negative to positive as it presents exactly what love is, in comparison to the previous what it is not. Through the use of the metaphor; love is presented as the North Star which never changes it's position in the sky. This then echos true love's strength, as the North Star is permanent and unwavering even amidst harsh weather conditions.

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. - There was little knowledge of what stars consisted of during the Elizabethan period yet the final lines of the quatrain reiterate the notion that although the worth of stars is unknown, their height is always constant similarly to the stable and dependable love. The use of the metaphor that likens love to a guiding force such as the North Star, for lost ships to use as a navigational tool/point for regaining sailing courses reiterates loves continual reliability as it it is as dependable as the stars are to sailors.

Quatrain 3

Love's not Time's fool,- In Elizabethan times a fool was employed by Nobility for entertainment. The narrator is saying here that love is not Time's fool, ie - Time has no control over love. Love is independent of it and more than a passing entertainment.

though rosy lips and cheeks - These images are symbolic of human beauty and are often used in love poetry. The narrator is saying that such beauty is - unlike love - dependent and affected by time.

Within his bending sickle's compass come; - A sickle is a curved shape often associated with the curved blade of Death's scythe. The narrator is saying that a lover's beauty is cut down by Time/Death. Beauty alters with time and ends with the death of a lover but love is eternal.

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, - True love does not change with time. Human life is measured in hours and weeks but again, love is everlasting and is immeasurable against time.

But bears it out even to the edge of doom. - Doom could refer to judgement day or death and so the narrator is stating that love endures time and lasts until judgement day or upon the death of both lovers.

Couplet

If this be error and upon me proved, - If what the narrator is saying about love is proved to be erroneous...

I have never writ, nor no man ever loved. - ...then the narrator has never written anything before and no man - including himself - has ever loved. The couplet is the narrator's attempt to validate his statement on love. It is his way of saying 'Of course what I say is true. It must be'.