Sonnet 147

I think This sonnet is a little like a combination of the goods and evils to love.  The speaker is saying that he is sick with love.  It seems to me that he's saying that he likes being sick, because that means that he's still able to love.  Although his love left him, his heart still yearns for love and no medicine, no doctor, no other thing can cure that.  I think that after he's lost the one he yearned for, he turned to his mistress for that kind of support and love he still wants.

Sonnet 146

This sonnet truly kind of creeps me out, which is hard to do.  It's creepy because it's true that the worms do get the last laugh, since they are the ones who eat you after you die.  This sonnet is incredibly depressing.  Mostly in the first quatrain, the speaker is asking the subject why embellish your body when you'll just die in the end?  Further saying, what is the point of living if the goal of living, is dying?  I think the other main key Shakespeare is trying to get across is that nothing else in the world really should matter to someone except for their body and soul.

Sonnet 138

Sonnet 138 is very interesting.  The speaker says that although his mistress lies, he still continues to believe her.  Although this may seem confusing, all in all, it makes sense.  If you know someone’s faults and what they are ashamed of, why is there a need for someone else to point them out?  Who are you to point out what another person has done wrong?  The speaker is saying that he and his mistress have both flawed and they both know of each other’s flaws.  If they know about each other’s flaws, why speak of them?  It just asks for controversy.

Sonnet 130

I'm not so sure if I like this poem very much.  In this sonnet, the speaker is insulting his mistress to a very large degree, which i don't approve of.  On the other hand, I do like the fact that he's honest and being very realistic.  Shakespeare is one of a kind and for him to speak of a mistress in a high fashion would be very unlike him because he's very different and realistic, even to an insulting degree.  In the couplet at the end, it seems as though he tries to redeem himself by saying that she is just as special as any other woman other poets lie about.

Sonnet 116

I know that I've said this about every sonnet, but this one is probably number two on my top ten.  This sonnet expresses the sweetness and the guidance of real love.  The speaker of this sonnet is pretty much saying that love will always guide you in the right direction.  The speaker goes on to say that love is not an ever evolving or changing thing.  This sonnet expresses the solid, never changing ability love obtains.  Once you've made that irreplaceable relationship, anything and everything will lead you back to them.

Sonnet 94

I really like this sonnet, even though I really like all of the sonnets.  This one especially because it's true.  Those who are modest, those who never flaunt and those who aren't gaudy deserve the best.  These kinds of people never try to show off what they own and are truly genuine.  This sonnet shows a good example of this in the first couplet.  The speaker goes on to say that these types of people are very giving and never selfish, which I believe everyone should be.

Sonnet 87

I have mixed feelings toward this particular sonnet.  At first, I felt badly toward the speaker because he is pretty much saying that the subject is too good for him and that they know just how much better off they are without him.  It's almost as if the speaker is saying leave me so you can find something better.  On the other hand, it's almost like the speaker is saying all of these things to his subject just so that they will feel this sudden guilt and stay with the speaker.  It's like he's flattering the subject saying that when they were together it was all like a dream, just to make the subject feel guilty about leaving him.

Sonnet 73

This sonnet I find is true to most people, if not all people.  When you look at someone, you remember the significant things about them and the times you've cherished.  This sonnet is saying exactly that.  The speaker is asking the subject what they remember when they look at or recall the speaker.  He's asking if their memories are of him old and near death or as a young and lively man.  I also believe that he speaker wants his subject to remember all the times they had together and to remember that he's near death.  He wants this because with all relationships, people love something more when they know they'll lose it so for the speaker, it's almost like a final cry for what he's been longing for.

Sonnet 55

I find it interesting that the Shakespeare personifies judgement.  It's not unusual for him to do such a thing but it's usually the subject of love or hate that he personifies.  I really like this poem because I feel like the theme of this sonnet is that love conquers all.  In the sonnet, the speaker is saying that the subject in the poem will outlive the statues and monuments of princes and kings because those extravagant monuments can and will crumble while the sonnet is recited and never forgotten.  Shakespeare kind of uses the same wording in sonnet 18.  in sonnet 18 he captures the beauty of the subject and that they will die but their beauty will live on forever in the poem.

Sonnet 30

I feel like this sonnet is all about the past.  The speaker is looking back on all of the things that he did wrong and what a waste of time it was or how much he wanted something and he never obtained it.  As he thinks about all of these things that he's lost and who has died, he's crying over everything. Everything that he forgot about, all that was lost and the time he wasted is just catching up to him but then the speaker turns it around, for a little more happiness.  He says that when his sorrowful thoughts are interrupted by thoughts of the reader, they all float away and he gets back everything that he has lost.  Just to be a little critical, if someone is always reading it, is the reader ever sorrowful?

Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 is my favorite sonnet out of all 154 of them.  This sonnet seems to make all of the bad things in life go away as you are reading it.  To me, this sonnet captures the true beauty of love and desire which is terribly hard to find.  Right from the beginning, the speaker is questioning if a summer's day is a good enough comparison for the subject.  The speaker is telling the subject that they're even better than that of a summer's day and even though this beauty, which is better than summer, will not last forever physically, it will last forever by other means because he has captured it in this sonnet which will be around forever.

Sonnet 12

Sonnet 12 is almost all about time.  The couplets are all comparisons of time to other things that are dying or that are near dying.  The very first line of this sonnet is very impressive.  The speaker is putting lots of emphasis on the subject of time and in the first line, there are many words that start with t and c, mimicking a ticking clock.  By this point in the sonnets, the speaker is beginning to question the beauty of his subject, as if he is suddenly second guessing this young man.  The speaker still goes on about how his beauty will be captured in his offspring and that's the only way he can be beautiful again.  The speaker is also saying that having children is the only way to keep up with time and old age and that having kids will be a way to fight time by living forever in offspring.

Sonnet 2

This second sonnet is much like the first sonnet.  The speaker talks a lot again about beauty and age and just how beautiful this young man is.  The only difference between the two sonnets is that in the second sonnet, the speaker seems to be recalling his past.  It seems almost as if the speaker wishes he did things differently in his life and he's telling this young man to do all of these things because he either regrets not doing them or he never had the chance to.  The speaker is especially telling this young man to have children so when he's old, it won't be because of age but because he spent his life raising a child.

Sonnet 1

In this first sonnet, I feel like the speaker is somewhat jealous of who he is talking about.  The speaker keeps calling him beautiful and youthful but at the same time he is reprimanding him for not having offspring.  I think the speaker knows that he is old and will not live much longer but he wants to make the world beautiful and he knows that he can't do this, all because he is near his death so he is telling this young man to have children so not only will he live on, his beauty will capture lives forever.

My First AP Blog

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