130. Dark Lady Sonnet.

This sonnet offers a pleasant, slightly comical change of paces from the Young Man sonnets. While it is thought that Shakespeare is writing of a real young woman in these sonnets, I am somewhat inclined to think otherwise seeing as I doubt this particular sonnet would be helpful in the endeavor that is a successful relationship. The description of the young woman is outrageous and funny, even though it is summed up with a line that suggests he loves this woman despite the shortcomings he has laid forth for every reader to imagine. The wiry hair, the dun complexion, and her awful breath are presented in direct contrast to aspects of beauty and desirability, and in effect the reader is aware that this woman is awful. The poem is superbly executed as a parody for typical love poetry, and Shakespeare adds to his list of pioneering achievements with this piece of comedic poetry.  

Sonnet 116

This particular sonnet is a commentary on the true nature of love which is really an interesting and complex subject. Shakespeare's overarching belief is that love is not an emotion that succumbs to change, but is instead unfaltering and irrevocable. In classic Shakespearean fashion, a metaphor is used that compares love to one of the most sturdy edifices in all of human architecture: the lighthouse. This comparison assuredly presents the solidness of love, and also introduces a new facet of the emotion as a guiding force. Time is again personified as it is said that love is not time's fool, meaning that love doesn't play to the whims of time as a jester would his employer. Love should persist even to the end of everything according to the poem, and Shakespeare end's aggressively saying that he is inherently correct at the consequence of the default of obviously true occurrences. This method of persuasion, meaning that employed by the couplet, is now a very common type of statement in literature and pop culture.

Sonnet 99

Interesting to note from the outset, that structurally this poem isn't a true sonnet, and the reader can certainly inquire as to whether or not this was intentional done to convey some meaning, an accident, or just an instance of discarding the form in order to say something Shakespeare felt couldn't be omitted. Regardless, this poem again is a prime example of Shakespeare being a pioneer in the realm of poetry. It is a common poetic tactic to compare one's subject to beautiful and desirable things, in an effort to convey their beauty. Shakespeare twists this concept and instead personifies these beautiful things as thieves, usurpers of the beautiful qualities they now possess. In various examples Shakespeare says that the red of roses, the smell, and the beauty of other flowers were all qualities first of the young man, and have been mimicked and stolen away. The poem is ended with the statement that all flowers have stolen their qualities from the young man, and in this way Shakespeare concludes his pioneering commentary on the common subject of beautiful people.

Sonnet 84

Of the sonnet's so far, this poem is particularly difficult to derive a meaning from. It makes a description of ideal individuals in the opening lines, those slow to temptation and the injury of others, as being worthy of the greatest riches and honors. There is the assertion that they are the sole determining factors of their fates, and all other beings are to be not more than servants and underlings in light of their superiority. in the last few lines this poem turns into a cautionary with a series of striking lines. It describes a flower being infected, and in so occurring, the flower is more undesirable than a weed. The purpose of these lines, most likely, were to warn the young man of succumbing to temptations and the behavior of lowly individuals, because in effect he would be no better than those evil people if not worse because he was once so pure. In truth the whole cautionary aspect of this poem is a bit hypocritical and ironic, because it was Shakespeare himself who once urged the young man to procreate at all costs, a detestable action if ever there was one.

Sonnet 73

One of the staples of Shakespeare's poetry is his near genius ability to convey complex ideas effectively through the use of metaphors. The body of this poem is dedicated towards the common idea in Shakespeare's sonnet's of the fading nature of aging, as one's life approaches death. In this sonnet Shakespeare utilizes 3 metaphors in distinct sections of the poem. The first metaphor is dedicated to the idea of life as a progression of the seasons, and in particular it is a description of Shakespeare's position in life as autumn, inevitably approaching what one can assume to be winter and death. An interesting detail in this section is in the second line's description of the falling of leaves, as the division provided by the commas almost suggests the gradual falling of leaves. The second   metaphor is life in comparison to the day. Shakespeare describes himself in the declining segments of the day, or twilight. The third metaphor, the waning fire, is effective and startling, especially so when Shakespeare echoes the truth of how a fire dies due to its ashes, remnants of its "youth". The couplet sums up the metaphors' purpose as a cautionary work, urging the young man to appreciate being young, and realize that eventually his beauty will fade.

Sonnet fityfy (55)

This poem is most similar in structure concerning shift and general idea to sonnet number 18. The central idea, as in 18, is that the poem shall give immortality to the young man, vicariously through the endless chain of those in love that shall read it, and simply through those that have experienced love independently. The quality of this poem that makes it distinct from any other is how Shakespeare describes other attempts at "immortality," monuments, other works of masonry, failing to effectively extend the lives of their subjects, due to the wearing effect of time, which is again personified, only this time as a slut. He contrasts these man-made monuments to his own creation, and states that, for the existence of his work, W.H. shall live to the world's end.

Sonnet 18

This is undeniably one of Shakespeare's, if not the, most widely known sonnet. It is typical in comparing the young man to a summer's day and the obvious beauty of that, but it is interesting in how Shakespeare breaks from the mold and says that even the description of a summer's day isn't adequate in conveying the young man's beauty. Shakespeare advances this idea by remarking on the issues with the summer months such as immoderate winds, and the often blazing, uncomfortable heat of the sun. In the line, "every fair from fair sometimes declines," Shakespeare reiterates the idea that he conveys throughout his sonnets of the decline of beauty in nature. A stark difference in this poem, however, is that Shakespeare begins his optimistic shift earlier than usual. The ninth line is where this shift occurs with the assertion that the young man's beauty will never fade, and that Death shall never have him, which is to say that the young man will live forever.How is this possible? Again in breaking with prior sonnets, immortality  won't be achieved at the accomplishment of any task on behalf of the young man, but instead due to the efforts of Shakespeare in the creation of Sonnet 18.

Sonnet 12

In quite a unique display of what makes Shakespeare so highly revered as a poet, Shakespeare uses specific word choice and the iambic pentameter format to imitate the rhythmic ticking of a clock in this sonnet's opening line. Again, the central purpose of this sonnet is to urge the young man, W.H., to create a child. Shakespeare effectively executes his persuasion by utilizing a bunch of imagery concerning things in nature waning, as a symbol for the gradual waning of life and the onset of death. Shakespeare's excellence as a wordsmith shines through towards the end of the poem in the line, "born on the bier with white and bristly beard." This word has a double meaning,  including the bier upon which bodies of the deceased are borne to their resting places. In the last four lines of the poem Shakespeare begins to articulate on how beauty fades much these other natural things, and personifies time as an inescapable, omnipotent individual. Of course in the final line Shakespeare offers the inevitable solution of having a child as the only means of besting Death.

Sonnet number 2

This sonnet is very interesting and keeps with the recurring theme of many of the early sonnets by advancing the idea that the young man, W.H., must  procreate. The suggestion is made so very compelling as Shakespeare describes aging in strictly negative terms. He talks of winter besieging the young man's brow, personifying time and age as some sort of invader staking claim to the young man's apparently beautiful face. Shakespeare goes on to say in a metaphor, that the young man's face will be comparable to only a weed when he is older, and the negative connotations in that statement are evident. The main idea of the sonnet is introduced as he says that it would be wonderful to be able to say that his beauty lives on in  his child. While this, to me, is nothing similar to immortality, Shakespeare insists that it is, stating that the young man will be able to look at his child and feel the warmth of youth, when in fact he is old and cold. In all Shakespeare is quite persuasive, and it can be assumed that the young man certainly at least considered having a child after having read this.

Sonnet Numero Uno

The central idea of this particular sonnet is that Mr. WH, in being so very attractive, is doing a diservice and quite nearly a crime unto the world by not having children. Of course, this is a bit odd and I feel we have to consider the motives of William Shakespeare's employers: the boy's parents. Perhaps they want him to have children in the hopes of the continuation of this, most likely, wealthy lineage. While Shakespeare effectively drives this sentiment home with the tone of this sonnet, the idea presented is that the boy must procreate at all costs. This would undoubtedly give the boy quite an ego and from a parents prospective I'm not sure if that was the original aim. Shakespeare uses a few very effective contrasts toward the end of the sonnet as he writes of feast and famine and eventually heralds (nearly angelic) and churls (meisers). Overall another beautiful poem, not one of my favorites, but one that effectively presents a concise set of ideas, within the restrictive Elizabethan sonnet form.