Shakespeare's Sonnets

Sonnet 29

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:: So long as man can breath, or eyes can see,; So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Lesson 1


Objectives:

To explore the meaning of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29
To learn the form of Sonnets

Activities:

Read Sonnet 29 to illustrate the prescribed form of the English sonnet.

Discuss the meanings of each quatrain, and the couplet of Sonnet 29.
(The main idea of the sonnet is that in periods of despair and sorrow the 
thoughts of those you love are a source of strength and sustenance).

List the speaker's catalogue of complaints in the first two quatrains 
(8 lines).

What does the speaker remember in line 10?

What image describes his mood in line 12&11?

Compare the speaker's thoughts in the first eight lines of the sonnet
 to his thoughts in the last 6 lines.

How has his perspective changed, especially in the last two lines?

Is the transition in the speaker's mood realistic or sincere? Who or why not?

Summarize the lesson: 
A sonnet is a lyric poem with a prescribed form. Lyric poetry-

Takes its name from songs accompanied by the lyre -- 
is distinguished from dramatic and narrative poetry.

Although the boundaries are flexible, most lyric poems are fairly short, 
and are often personal. Examples include the sonnet, the elegy and the ode.

A sonnet has -

```
14 lines, 
```

and the lines are always iambic pentameter, 
that is,they consist normally of ten syllables with every second 
syllable accented.

The rhyme scheme for an English sonnet is abab, cdcd, efef, and gg.

We indicate rhyme schemes in poetry by assigning a letter of the alphabet to each rhyme sound.

An English sonnet has three quatrains (stanzas of four lines)
followed by a couplet (two lines in iambic pentameter ended with 
the same sound).

In each quatrain, normally a question will be raised, 
and the couplet usually draws a conclusion or presents a solution to the 
problems outlined earlier in the poem.

Assessment: Interpret sonnet18 by using the class notes.

Homework Assignment #1: Rewrite Sonnet 29 in modern English but keep the lyrical nature of the poem and the meaning as well. If you could follow the format of the sonnet, do so.

Enrichment Activities:

Homework#2 Interpret Sonnet 18

Lesson 2

Aim: What creative ways can we use to demonstrate our understanding of Shakespeare's sonnets 29&18?

Analysis of the sonnet, i.e. how did Shakespeare use metaphors , symbols and other poetic devices in his sonnet writing so creatively and effectively?
Create a story that explains why Shakespeare composed the sonnet.
Create a story to show the effect the sonnet had on the person who received it.
Write a parody of the sonnet. (See an example a parody)
Develop graphics to incorporate pictures that reveal imagery, meaning, or the theme and tone of the sonnets.
Develop a rubric for the presentation
- Does the presentation reflect the meaning of the sonnet?
- Is it original and insightful?

Class Notes:

Figurative Language
Metaphor-an implied comparison between two dissimilar objects or things, not using like or as.

Simile-a comparison between two similar things or objects using like or as.

Personification-a figure of speech in which a thing, quality, or idea is represented as a person.

Symbol- an object or action that takes on additional meaning through association.

Sound Devices

Rhythm-the sound patterns in poetry produced in metered verse by repeating various patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Rhyme- the regular return of sounds in final words of lines.

Assonance-the repetition of vowel sounds in poetry.

Consonance-the repetition of consonant sounds in poetry.

Alliteration-the repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more words in a line of poetry.

Meter-the rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. The metrical foot consists of a number of accented and unaccented syllables.

Iamb- A metrical foot consisting of and unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.

Pentameter- a line of five feet.

Lesson 3

Sonnet 24 XXIV

Mine eye hath play'd the painter and hath steel'd,
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart;
My body is the frame wherein 'tis held,
And perspective it is best painter's art.
For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictur'd lies,
Which in my bosom's shop is hanging still,
That hath his windows glazed with thine eyes.
Now see what good turns eyes for eyes have done:
Mine eyes have drawn thy shape, and thine for me
Are windows to my breast, where-through the sun
Delights to peep, to gaze therein on thee;
Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art,
They draw but what they see, know not the heart.

Sonnet 30

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.

XLIII (Sonnet 43)

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

Sonnet 57 LVII

Being your slave what should I do but tend
Upon the hours, and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend;
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world without end hour,
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are, how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

Sonnet 61LXI

Is it thy will, thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.

Sonnet65 LXI

Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'ersways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O! how shall summer's honey breath hold out,
Against the wrackful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O! none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright

HW#1 Use the sonnet links above to select one other Shakespearean sonnet to interpret and analyze. In your interpretation and analysis, be sure to include the following-

Subject of the sonnet
rhyme scheme
The meaning of each quatrain and the couplet ( use key words or phrases from the sonnet as specific references to back up your interpretation)-this part is the main body of your analysis
What images do you see throughout the sonnet? What meanings and feelings are being conveyed through these images?
Are there any other examples of figurative language such as metaphors, similes or symbols? What meanings and feelings are being conveyed through these images?
What's the best part of the sonnet? How did the poet tackle the common subject so poetically through the sonnet?
What are your favorite lines( what's your favorite line) in the sonnet?
What is your emotional response to the sonnet( reflection)?

HW#2 Create a graphic (still or animated) to illustrate the sonnet you have read and analyzed.

Lesson 4

Aim: To share our response to Shakespearean Sonnets.

Do Now: Please go to Daily Journal Prompt and pick one prompt to respond to. Write freely for about 7 minutes. Let your thoughts and pen go free. Don't worry about grammar at this point.

Procedure:

Use the Group Web Blog to share your Sonnet Analysis (no need to copy the entire sonnet. Just provide the sonnet number and make a link to the sonnet if you can).
Post your Daily Journal in your Web Blog as well.
Every member of each TQ group needs to upload the graphics you have created for Macbeth and Hamlet (Act I & II) in to the file manager under your name. The group leader needs to create an Art Gallery link in your index page ASAP so I can check everyone's work.
Finish setting up an outline for your group website by 02/14/05. Remember the deadline for the website is May 3, 05.