Understanding Shakespeare's Sonnets

Welcome back to my channel. My name is Carly Stevens. I'm the author of the Young Adult Fantasy Fury and Rising, and this is English Nerd. So today I wanted to give you some basic tips about how to... analyze Shakespeare's sonnets. It sounds like a daunting task, but there are actually a lot of simple things that you can do to figure out what it means and go a little bit deeper than that. So today we're going to look at Shakespeare's sonnets. Shakespeare's 12th sonnet. It's one of my favorites. If you want to listen to this entire sonnet, which I would recommend that you do if you have the opportunity, then there's a lovely version read by David Tennant, which you can find on YouTube. So I would recommend that you look that up if you get the chance. So I'm going to start with some of the basics. Here is the poem, so you can take a look at that. The first thing that you need to know about Shakespearean sonnets, as far as basic information goes, is that every Shakespearean sonnet, with the exception of, I think, one, has 14 lines. And the rhyme scheme is always the same. So this is the way that the rhyme scheme looks. The letters correspond to the last sound or the last word in the line and if it matches up with one later on. Shakespearean sonnets rhyme scheme will be ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. So in more poetic technical language that means that there are three quatrains, three groups of four lines that rhyme with each other and then one couplet at the end. In addition to having a very set rhyme scheme every time, you also have meters. So in Shakespearean sonnets and in fact In fact, in his plays as well, he uses a lot of iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is, again, a pretty lofty word for an idea that's not that foreign to us actually. Iambic pentameter just means that there's a particular beat to the line. So it goes da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da. Or unaccented syllable followed by accented syllable, da-da, five times. So that's where the pent in pentameter comes from. Pent means five. So if you think about the Pentagon, for instance, has the five sides. So, and then an iamb is that unaccented, accented combo. So da-da, repeated the five times. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. So, shall I compare thee to a summer's day? When I do count the clock, the tale is the time. To be or not to be, that is the question. He uses iambic pentameter a whole lot. that is going to be the basic meter for every sonnet. In this case, the first line is, as I just said, when I do count the clock, it tells the time. So every line will have approximately ten syllables in it. I say approximately because it's possible that there could be an eleventh unaccented syllable when he's feeling fancy. So, rhyme and meter, we have that taken care of. All of Shakespeare's sonnets deal with some kind of of big question or big theme that he's considering throughout the sonnet basically the format goes this way the first two quatrains as you can see it going back to this diagram the first two quatrains introduce the idea develop the idea and then there's a turn right before that third quatrain the turn is called the Volta and the Volta means that Shakespeare is shifting his focus very often he'll go from lofty general nature related metaphors to explain his ideas to more specifically considering the person in front of him or the person who commissioned the the sonnet so he's still considering the same idea but now he's shifting his focus very often there will be some kind of transition word so in the case of this sonnet there's then then of thy beauty do I question make and the couplet at the end and is going to either answer the question or more often summarize some kind of concluding thought about it. So in this case, we start off with, When I do count the clock that tells the time and see the brave day sunk in hideous night. So he gives all these different metaphors about time passing, about days ending. about flowers dying all of that and there's the vault of the turn then of thy beauty do I question make that thou among the wastes of time must go so now he's considering not only how everything tends from life to death how everything cut you know every day must end but now he's thinking about this person who is I believe the the nobleman who commissioned a lot of these. Then of thy beauty do I question make. Now I turn my attention to you specifically and see that time is going to also have that same effect on you. So Shakespeare is considering time, he's considering how beauty fades, and there's an implicit question there about what can you do about this. And so the couplet gives us a sort of answer. And it's a pretty standard Shakespearean answer for this nobleman. His couplet goes, And nothing gainst time's scythe can make defence, Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. So nothing can go against the scythe of time cutting down everything in its time, except to breed, except to have children and live through your legacy that way. So these themes are pretty common in Shakespeare. If you are analyzing a Shakespearean sonnet, look for the themes of love, of death, of time, and of beauty. I would say that those are the big four. Not every sonnet is about those things, but the majority will be considering aspects of those ideas. And the reason, I think, that people use sonnets to consider ideas like love and time... is that talking about them in more of an essay format or straightforward format doesn't get across the truth of it quite as well as a metaphor might do. You know, what is love like? If you give a dictionary definition, it's not going to cut it, but if you give a really apt metaphor for what it's like, you're actually getting closer to the truth than if you were to be less poetic, I suppose. So once you have rhyme and meter down, once you understand the basic question and answer or the gist of what Shakespeare is considering throughout his poem, then you can start looking at more specifically the metaphors that he uses and the other literary devices. So you can look for things like alliteration, you can look for how he develops his metaphors. Just as an example, in Sonnet 12, The reason that I like Sonnet 12 actually is just the first line. When I do count the clock that tells the time. He uses alliteration count the clock, tells the time, to really good effect. It actually sounds like a clock ticking when I do count the clock that tells the time. Which I think is pretty nifty. So from there you can do kind of a deep dive into some of the very finer points of what's going on, but... Those are the basic things you need to know. I hope this was helpful for you. Let me know if you have any questions at all down below and I will try to get to those as soon as I can. Alright, make sure to subscribe if you have not done so already and I'll see you next Monday. Bye!

Welcome back to my channel. My name is Carly Stevens. I'm the author of the Young Adult Fantasy Fury and Rising, and this is English Nerd.

So today I wanted to give you some basic tips about how to... analyze Shakespeare's sonnets. It sounds like a daunting task, but there are actually a lot of simple things that you can do to figure out what it means and go a little bit deeper than that. So today we're going to look at Shakespeare's sonnets.

Shakespeare's 12th sonnet. It's one of my favorites. If you want to listen to this entire sonnet, which I would recommend that you do if you have the opportunity, then there's a lovely version read by David Tennant, which you can find on YouTube.

So I would recommend that you look that up if you get the chance. So I'm going to start with some of the basics. Here is the poem, so you can take a look at that. The first thing that you need to know about Shakespearean sonnets, as far as basic information goes, is that every Shakespearean sonnet, with the exception of, I think, one, has 14 lines. And the rhyme scheme is always the same.

So this is the way that the rhyme scheme looks. The letters correspond to the last sound or the last word in the line and if it matches up with one later on. Shakespearean sonnets rhyme scheme will be ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.

So in more poetic technical language that means that there are three quatrains, three groups of four lines that rhyme with each other and then one couplet at the end. In addition to having a very set rhyme scheme every time, you also have meters. So in Shakespearean sonnets and in fact In fact, in his plays as well, he uses a lot of iambic pentameter.

Iambic pentameter is, again, a pretty lofty word for an idea that's not that foreign to us actually. Iambic pentameter just means that there's a particular beat to the line. So it goes da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da.

Or unaccented syllable followed by accented syllable, da-da, five times. So that's where the pent in pentameter comes from. Pent means five.

So if you think about the Pentagon, for instance, has the five sides. So, and then an iamb is that unaccented, accented combo. So da-da, repeated the five times. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

So, shall I compare thee to a summer's day? When I do count the clock, the tale is the time. To be or not to be, that is the question.

He uses iambic pentameter a whole lot. that is going to be the basic meter for every sonnet. In this case, the first line is, as I just said, when I do count the clock, it tells the time. So every line will have approximately ten syllables in it. I say approximately because it's possible that there could be an eleventh unaccented syllable when he's feeling fancy.

So, rhyme and meter, we have that taken care of. All of Shakespeare's sonnets deal with some kind of of big question or big theme that he's considering throughout the sonnet basically the format goes this way the first two quatrains as you can see it going back to this diagram the first two quatrains introduce the idea develop the idea and then there's a turn right before that third quatrain the turn is called the Volta and the Volta means that Shakespeare is shifting his focus very often he'll go from lofty general nature related metaphors to explain his ideas to more specifically considering the person in front of him or the person who commissioned the the sonnet so he's still considering the same idea but now he's shifting his focus very often there will be some kind of transition word so in the case of this sonnet there's then then of thy beauty do I question make and the couplet at the end and is going to either answer the question or more often summarize some kind of concluding thought about it. So in this case, we start off with, When I do count the clock that tells the time and see the brave day sunk in hideous night.

So he gives all these different metaphors about time passing, about days ending. about flowers dying all of that and there's the vault of the turn then of thy beauty do I question make that thou among the wastes of time must go so now he's considering not only how everything tends from life to death how everything cut you know every day must end but now he's thinking about this person who is I believe the the nobleman who commissioned a lot of these. Then of thy beauty do I question make.

Now I turn my attention to you specifically and see that time is going to also have that same effect on you. So Shakespeare is considering time, he's considering how beauty fades, and there's an implicit question there about what can you do about this. And so the couplet gives us a sort of answer. And it's a pretty standard Shakespearean answer for this nobleman.

His couplet goes, And nothing gainst time's scythe can make defence, Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. So nothing can go against the scythe of time cutting down everything in its time, except to breed, except to have children and live through your legacy that way. So these themes are pretty common in Shakespeare.

If you are analyzing a Shakespearean sonnet, look for the themes of love, of death, of time, and of beauty. I would say that those are the big four. Not every sonnet is about those things, but the majority will be considering aspects of those ideas.

And the reason, I think, that people use sonnets to consider ideas like love and time... is that talking about them in more of an essay format or straightforward format doesn't get across the truth of it quite as well as a metaphor might do. You know, what is love like? If you give a dictionary definition, it's not going to cut it, but if you give a really apt metaphor for what it's like, you're actually getting closer to the truth than if you were to be less poetic, I suppose.

So once you have rhyme and meter down, once you understand the basic question and answer or the gist of what Shakespeare is considering throughout his poem, then you can start looking at more specifically the metaphors that he uses and the other literary devices. So you can look for things like alliteration, you can look for how he develops his metaphors. Just as an example, in Sonnet 12, The reason that I like Sonnet 12 actually is just the first line.

When I do count the clock that tells the time. He uses alliteration count the clock, tells the time, to really good effect. It actually sounds like a clock ticking when I do count the clock that tells the time.

Which I think is pretty nifty. So from there you can do kind of a deep dive into some of the very finer points of what's going on, but... Those are the basic things you need to know.

I hope this was helpful for you. Let me know if you have any questions at all down below and I will try to get to those as soon as I can. Alright, make sure to subscribe if you have not done so already and I'll see you next Monday.

Bye!

Transcript for:Understanding Shakespeare's Sonnets

Transcript for:
Understanding Shakespeare's Sonnets