wordsworth

‘Sonnet’ by Christina Rossetti and ‘Sonnet 18’ by William Shakespeare

‘‘Assist me some extemporal god of rhyme, for I am sure I shall turn sonneter. Devise, wit, write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio.’’

William Shakespeare-‘Love Labour’s Lost’

The English Sonnet is poem form consisting of 14 lines, each with 10 stressed and unstressed syllables known as iambic pentameter, with set rhyme of: a b a b c d c d e f e f g g. ‘Sonnet 18’ by Shakespeare conforms to this structure entirely without fault, whereas ‘Sonnet’ by Rossetti dose not. Instead it has an unusual pattern of a b b a a b b a c d d c c d. although both poems do contain 14 lines. Many sonnets are intensely personal divulging carnal interests and indulgences that suggest that they may not have been intended for public consumption. Others are deeply emotional, disclosing the author’s most private feelings and emotions that, again, may have been intended as private exercises.

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The exclamation mark, which concludes the essay, adds finalisation and completion to the sonnet. Shakespeare’s only explanation to such profound joy and beauty is to ensure that his friend is forever in human memory

‘Long lives this and this gives life to thee’,

Saved from ultimate oblivion that accompanies death. The couplet reaffirms the poet’s hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on, and ensure the immortality of his muse, for’ long lives this and this gives life to thee. Although the language used is exercised to notable effect. and in a sense Rossetti has immortalised the ‘first day’ and the ‘first touch of hand in hand’. Finally we may be cowards or temporisers who will not use the golden hours while we have them.

Rossetti uses such a descriptive metaphor to compare her relationship with, because she feels the two are instantaneously connected. However at the beginning of the third quatrain (line 9), he is the summer ‘ thy eternal summer’, and thus, he has metamorphosed into the standard by which true beauty can and should be determined by. The poem is directed at the paramour of the poet. He achieves this through his verse, believing that, as history writes itself, his friend will become one with time. For they both in there own different forms are connected to a central theme- love. The imagery becomes more advanced and detailed as the poem progresses. Rossetti is bitter and feels betrayed by-herself and life. The theme of lost opportunity, of joys unvalued until they have been snatched away forever, runs through the poems of Rossetti. However in line nine the comparison between summer and his muse dissolves and his muse is personified as the ‘eternal summer’.

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Approximate Word count = 2045
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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