Sonnet #147

This last sonnet in the packet makes me wonder what happened between the speaker and the reader. The speaker pours out his heart on the paper telling the reader that his heart is broken. In the beginning the speaker says that their love was what made him live, but now that it's over he is sick with a broken heart. Nothing can cure him and it's been so long that nothing could cure him now anyway. Since it has been such a long time he doesn't even care anymore. He says that yet, he has gone crazy with his thoughts. He can not believe that the one he thought to be his life was actually "black as hell". Even though the speaker says he doesn't care his mind is constantly thinking about the reader. I thought this was a really cool sonnet because everyone gets their heart broken, but many can't translate into words how they honestly feel about it.

Sonnet #146

As the sonnets come to an end the speaker acknowledges his fate. His fate is to die and be eaten by worms and lose all that he has strived to gain throughout his life. Here the speaker is concerned about the struggle he has between life and death. In the very beginning he says that his soul rebels against his body since death is so near and there is nothing his body can do. He wonders if life is worth living if all that is gained in life is lost in death. He finds no point to life and longing since death is so close. His advice to the reader is to starve his body since it will allbe lost anyway. The way the speaker bounces between happiness, love, patheticness, and gloom in his sonnets really leads me to believe that he was somewhat unstable.

Sonnet #138

Yet again the speaker comes off as pathetic through his writing. In this sonnet the speaker tells of his affairs with a woman who he doesn't trust. It says she talks to him and tells him truthful things, yet he knows she lies. Their relationship is built on lies and pretending for even the speaker lies to the woman he's sleeping with. He goes along with her lies and lets her think that he believes she's only with him. Also, he let's himself believe he is young and that she even believes he is young. In order to deal with the lies and pretending they both ignore the truth and just focus on their casual love affair. There isn't much more I can say about this, since the speaker and the woman acknowledge their faults openly.

Sonnet #130

I truly don't know how to take this poem. It may be a sweet poem to the reader, but to the mistress it's rude. I'm unsure if the reader would be happy to hear that the speaker doesn't love his mistress, but then again the reader is now aware they aren't the only one in the speaker's life. Either way this poem is definately written to criticise the speaker's mistress. The speaker goes to say that the mistress's eyes aren't as pretty as the sun, plants have prettier colors then she has on her face, she's pale, she isn't a goddess in his eyes, and music is much more pleasing to listen to then her talking. This sonnet is full of insults,which makes me wonder what went wrong with the speaker's relationship with the mistress. I enjoyed reading this sonnet since it was humorous in an unexpecting way.

Sonnet #116

This sonnet is definately my favorite of all the sonnets I have read so far. The speaker nows returns to his romantic version of his love with the reader. The speaker tells the reader that love can't be ruined or swayed no matter what may happen. Love "is an ever fixed mark" which means that it will always stay and never diminish. Another line I loved in this sonnet was that "love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks." This line is so charming because the speaker is telling the reader that no matter how the reader may physically change over the years he will still love him just the same. Many people worry that they will lose their love once their looks disappear. Of all the sonnets this one,to me, really brings light to the intense of the speaker has for the reader.

Sonnet #94

I loved this sonnet. It leaves a question in the air, which is if it is better to be evil one's whole life or change from good to evil. The last line of the sonnet is very powerful. It states,"Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds." It means that even the most beautiful things are worse when they change to something awful then things that have been awful the whole time. I truely believe that this statement is true and logicical. Also this poem says that those with beauty have more power to hurt people. My best guess is that the speaker and the reader had a fight or are having a rough time in their relationship. The speaker calls the reader a tease in this sonnet, which leads me to believe that the reader is promising something that they can't deliver. This sonnet just goes to prove my theory that the reader and the speaker have a very unstable relationship.

Sonnet #87

The speaker agains shows his pathetic side in this sonnet. He speaks of how he is undeserving of the reader. The reader is young, full of life, and very valuable. The speaker finds himself unworthy of the value of the reader. While they were together life seemed like a dream to the speaker and he felt like a king. Yet, now that reality is sinking in he doesn't feel like a king or even worthy of the reader's love. I feel that the speaker changes his mind way to much about the love him and the reader share. If the reader found themselves above or more valuable then the speaker then I truly believe the reader would leave the speaker. The realtionship the two share is very unstable.

Sonnet #73

After the speaker pronounced his love to the reader he know puts their relationship into perspective. As sad as it is the speaker must face the fact the he is much to old to be with the reader who can be assumed to be young. The speaker accepts the fact that he is like night and closer to death then the reader who is youthful and full of light. He also accepts the fact that times are changing. The speaker says that he is like autumn where the leaves are falling. Autumn is a transition season, which represents change and a step closer to winter, which represents death. As sad as this sonnet is it also emphasises the love the speaker and the reader share. Since the reader knows he won't have the speaker for long their love is enhanced.

Sonnet #55

I'm not a fan of this sonnet at all. I feel the speaker is trying to give too much credit to his writing. He's saying monuments and buildings built to praise the reader aren't nearly as good as this sonnet. The monuments and buildings will fade away, while this sonnet will always live on. Yes, buildings will crumble and fall, but writing isn't going to make it through decades either. The sonnet is ended by saying that this sonnet will bring the reader praise until God returns and ends the world as we know it. Personally I feel that the speaker is over exaggerating this sonnet a bit much. It's a sweet gesture to try and give the greatest gift, yet I feel that the speaker is putting down other gifts that were given to the reader to make his own appear to be better.

Sonnet #30

Unlike the rest of the sonnets so far this one is very depressing. The speaker is grieving about things and people he has lost over the years. His eyes that are not used to crying can't seem to stop. His heart breaks for the new pain he experiences and even the old pain that he has already cried over. I feel pity and sympathy for the speaker for he has previously seemed so happy, yet now his true emotions are surfacing. Even so, his heart begins to heal as he thinks about the reader. Just thinking about the reader helps end the sorrow and grief the speaker feels. By saying this is goes to prove my theory that the speaker was in love with the reader. For one only cheers up when grieving due to one they love.

Sonnet #18

This sonnet gives reason to believe that the speaker was in love with the reader. If it is true I do not know, but this poem sounds as if it is told to a lover. The speaker is telling the reader that he is more lovely then summer because summer will fade away, but his looks will not. Which actually contradicts the points of the other sonnets. Still, I believe this contradiction is because the speaker has fallen in love with the reader over time. I think now the speaker sees that beauty is not just looks, but about who one is on the inside. The speaker ends this sonnet by saying that as long as this sonnet lives so does the reader. I believe this line is symbolic to the fact that the speaker doesn't want to lose the reader. By writing sonnets to the reader I believe the speaker has fallen in love.

Sonnet #12

Honesty fills this sonnet of the way the speaker views beauty. Before the speaker was trying to please the reader through using sweet comparisons, but now the speaker is only using honesty. The speaker tells the reader that when Time (personified) takes over the reader's beauty will slowly fade away. Death will take over and change his beautiful hair to a shade of white. I love how honest this is because I felt the other sonnets were a bit to pleasant. Yet, the speaker offers the reader a way out from Time overcoming him. He says that if the reader has a child through which he could love on then he would defy Time. I really like that line about defying Time because I feel it's deeper then I'm reading in to it. I feel it has many ways of viewing it, which make it that much more powerful to me.

Sonnet #2

As shallow as this first sonnet was the speaker now decides to explain more fully his reasoning of urging the reader to have children. The speaker says that once you are old and wrinkles cover your face your beauty you once had will be worth little. Yet, if the reader can say that their beauty lies in the face of their child then they should be proud. They should be proud for they lose their youth and beauty through the stress of raising the child that now bears their beauty. The couplet that ends this sonnet is very deep. It states that the reader is made new in their child and as death overtakes them they will get a new lease on life for they will live on in the life of their child. I feel that this sonnet is much more loving then the first. Now the speaker is using reasons of why the reader must have children. To live on and be proud of raising a beautiful child is nothing to be ashamed of.

Sonnet #1

Shakespeare begins his sonnets with one that acknowledges beauty and the responsibility that comes with it. The speaker is urging the reader to procreate and spread his beauty. The reader is the most beautiful one in the land and the speaker is telling him it is only right to have children. Without children his beauty can not continue and that would be a shame. The speaker even goes so far as to say hoarding his beauty and taking it to the grave with him is greedy. I'm not sure if Shakespeare truly believes this individual is beautiful or if he is playing with the readers emotions to gain favor. Either way I feel this poem is very shallow. It's not selfish to hoard one's beauty by not having kids. The reader has his choice to procreate or not, but I feel the speaker is urging him to do so without fully understanding the responsibility it gives the reader. Children are not meant to grow up only to spread one's beauty, but to be loved. Life isn't about beauty, but about what one can give to society.

My First AP Lit Blog

Today I discovered how confusing blogs are. Hopefully we won't use this much.