Spear of Time
Many works of poetry have the common trait of using the primary elements of poetry to convey the significance of the poem. William Shakespeare, a well-known and master poet of the sixteenth century, uses these elements to express the meaning in each of his poems and sonnets. In Shakespeare's poem, "Like as the Waves make Towards the Pebbled Shore," the elements of external form, tone, speaker, and internal structure are used to express the point. The external form of this poem is an important element in the development, meaning, and understanding of it. Dominating English poetry in the late sixteenth century, sonnets make up a large portion of Shakespeare's works of poetry. A sonnet is a type of poem that is made up of fourteen lines in one stanza and is generally contained and compact. Shakespeare uses the sonnet form in "Like as the Waves make Towards the Pebbled Shore" for this reason and because the form is best suited to intensity of feeling and concentration of expression. The style of sonnet that Shakespeare uses commonly is one in which the sonnet itself is divided into three units of four lines each and a final unit of two lines. This type of sonnet also follows a rhyme scheme in which the la
It is as if one thought flows from the preceding thought. " The waves can move in only one direction, calmly towards the shore. " Known as the English sonnet, this form of poetry is able to set up a series of brief, cumulative images that effectively relay the meaning of the poem to the reader. In Shakespeare's sonnet, "Like as the Waves make Towards the Pebbled Shore," the speaker is pondering the human lifetime and the effects of the "cruel hand" of Time. He states that as each minute passes the one before it, we replace newborn life with maturity. In this sonnet, Shakespeare compares the rhythmic quality of waves coming to shore to the natural life cycle. Shakespeare continues to muse over how time removes any trace of youth until there is nothing that would be able to stand against his final onslaught. That is, it's a type of rhythm in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one. A poet requires the use of these elements to give a poem life, meaning, and function. "Like as the Waves make Towards the Pebbled Shore" follows this scheme perfectly as in the first unit of four lines, "pebbled shore" rhymes with "which goes before" and "to their end" with "do contend. He also compares the waves to the relentless nature of time by stating that it "doth transfix the flourish set on youth and delves the parallels in beauty's brow. Although death is eventually inevitable, the poet's tone is not one of fear or frustration, but of calm acceptance and the hope that his "verse shall stand. In the lines, "Nativity, once in the main of light, / Crawls to maturity," Shakespeare makes the direct connection to this cycle. Similarly, the life cycle and time can only progress forward. The elements that make up poetry are vital to expressing that which the poet wants to communicate.
Common topics in this essay:
Pebbled Shore,
Dominating English,
William Shakespeare,
,
pebbled shore,
waves towards pebbled,
Waves Towards,
Towards Pebbled,
towards pebbled shore,
waves towards,
towards pebbled,
unit lines,
elements poetry,
life cycle,
external form,
iambic meter,
sonnet shakespeare,
internal structure,
final unit lines,
pebbled shore follows,
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Acceptance Essays
