SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS AN OVERVIEW 4TH YEAR LITERATURE

PROF. R. PIEYRO
*Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets which were collected together and published
posthumously in 1609.
Many critics segment the sonnets into three groups as follows:
1.

The Fair Youth Sonnets (Sonnets 1 126)

At first the sonnets are addressed to a young man with whom the poet has a
deep friendship.

2.

The Dark Lady Sonnets (Sonnets 127 152)

In the second sequence, the poet becomes infatuated with a mysterious
woman. Her relationship with the young man is unclear.

3.

The Greek Sonnets (Sonnets 153 and 154)

The final two sonnets are very different and draw upon the Roman myth of
Cupid, to whom the poet has already compared his muses.

Sonnet Characteristics
A sonnet is simply a poem written in a certain format. You can identify a sonnet if
the poem has the following characteristics:
14 lines. All sonnets have 14 lines which can be broken down into four sections
called quatrains.
A strict rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB /
CDCD / EFEF / GG (note the four distinct sections in the rhyme scheme).
Written in iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a poetic
meter with 10 beats per line made up of alternating unstressed and stressed
syllables.
A sonnet can be broken down into four sections called quatrains. The first three
quatrains contain four lines each and use an alternating rhyme scheme. The final
quatrain consists of just two lines which both rhyme.
Each quatrain should progress the poem as follows:
1.First quatrain: This should establish the subject of the sonnet.
(Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: ABAB)
2.Second quatrain: This should develop the sonnets theme.

(Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: CDCD)

3.Third quatrain: This should round off the sonnets theme.
(Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: EFEF)
4.Fourth quatrain: This should act as a conclusion to the sonnet.
(Number of lines: 2. Rhyme Scheme: GG)
History of The Shakespearian Sonnet in Print
It wasnt until 1609 that the sonnets first appeared in print in an unauthorized
edition by Thomas Thorpe. Most critics agree that Shakespeares sonnets were
printed without his consent because the 1609 text seems to be based on an
incomplete or draft copy of the poems. The text is riddled with errors and some
believe that certain sonnets are unfinished.
Shakespeare almost certainly intended his sonnets for manuscript circulation,
which was not uncommon at the time, but exactly how the poems ended up in the
hands of Thorpe is still unknown.
Who was Mr. WH? The dedication
The dedication in the frontispiece of the 1609 edition has sparked controversy
among Shakespeare historians and has become a key piece of evidence in the
authorship debate. It reads:
To the only begetter
of these ensuing sonnets
Mr. W.H. all happiness and
that eternity promised by
our ever-lasting poet wisheth
the well-wishing adventurer
in setting forth.
T.T.
Although the dedication was written by Thomas Thorpe the publisher, indicated by
his initials at the end of the dedication, the identity of the begetter is still unclear.
There are three main theories regarding the true identity of Mr. W.H. as follows:
1.

Mr. W.H. is a misprint for Shakespeares initials. It should read either Mr.
W.S. or Mr. W.Sh.

2.
3.

Mr. W.H. refers to the person that obtained the manuscript for Thorpe
Mr. W.H. refers to the person that inspired Shakespeare to write the
sonnets. Many candidates have been proposed including:

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke to whom Shakespeare later

dedicated his First Folio

Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton to whom Shakespeare had

dedicated some of his narrative poems

It is important to note that although the true identity of W.H. is of importance to

Shakespeare historians, it doesnt obscure the poetic brilliance of his sonnets.
What is Iambic Pentameter?
Iambic Pentameter has:

Ten syllables in each line

Five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables

The rhythm in each line sounds like:

ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM

Most of Shakespeares famous quotations fit into this rhythm. For example:
If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play on
Is this / a dag- / -ger I / see be- / fore me?
Each pair of syllables is called an iambus. Youll notice that each iambus is made
up of one unstressed and one stressed beat (ba-BUM).
Rhythmic Variations
In his plays, Shakespeare didnt always stick to ten syllables. He often played
around with iambic pentameter to give color and feeling to his characters
speeches. This is the key to understanding Shakespeare's language..
Feminine Ending

Sometimes Shakespeare added an extra unstressed beat at the end of a line to

emphasize a characters sense of contemplation. This variation is called a feminine
ending and Hamlets famous question is the perfect example:
To be, / or not / to be: / that is / the ques- / -tion
Inversion
Shakespeare also reverses the order of the stresses in some iambi to help
emphasize certain words or ideas. If you look closely at the fourth iambus in the
Hamlet quote above, you can see how he has placed an emphasis on the word
that by inverting the stresses.
Occasionally, Shakespeare will completely break the rules and place two stressed
syllables in the same iambus, as the following quote from Richard III demonstrates:
Now is / the win- / -ter of / our dis- / content
In this example, the fourth iambus emphasizes that it is our discontent, and the
first iambus emphasizes that we are feeling this now.
Why is Iambic Pentameter Important?
Shakespeare will always feature prominently in any discussion of iambic
pentameter because he used the form with great dexterity - especially in his
sonnets, but you must not be tricked into thinking that he invented it. Rather, it is a
standard literary convention that has been used by many writers before and after
Shakespeare.
Historians are not sure how the speeches were read aloud - whether delivered
naturally or with an emphasis on the stressed words. In my opinion, this is
unimportant. What really matters is that the study of iambic pentameter gives us a
rare glimpse into the inner workings of Shakespeares writing process.