Sonnet Literature Reviews Samples For Students

Part 1 – Explication:

O: Mark but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is;
I: Mark here means “See” or “Look at”. In this line, the poet brings attention of the reader to an insignificant flea. He relates the small size of the flea to the thing that his beloved has denied him, without knowing that the thing she has denied to him is very little.

O: It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,

And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
I: He tells that the flea sucked, after sucking his blood, is now sucking hers. He is strangely ...

The poem is a narrative, giving a close encounter of how life has been in her sphere. Millay narrates how she wasted out her love after an encounter with numerous lovers. Though a change occurs in the poem where Millay applies comparative image in expressing her personal feelings of love loss. Millay indicates” I cannot say what love have come and gone”, this indicates that never loved her young lover men by enjoyed with them. She has lost all the lovers since she changed from one lover to another. From the line, it’s clear that she feels a lot of loss after ...

The poem that one chose is “How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43). This poem was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1845 while Robert Browning, an English poet, was courting her. It is part of the “Sonnets from the Portuguese”, which is a collection of 44 love poems written by Elizabeth, with Robert as his inspiration. Sonnet 43 is the most popular love poem of Elizabeth.
One is drawn to this poem because of its universal message, and that is love. Although, there are a plethora of love poems written, one thinks that this poem is one of the ...

Ray Robert, comments on Shakespeare’s use of the word “complexion” in Shakespeare’s sonnet 18. Editors and critics of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 all agree that the word “complexion” refers to both facial complexion as well as the face of the personified sun. The face of the sun is at times dimmed by clouds and similarly internal clouds of melancholy darken the disposition or complexion of the young man. The author notes that, Shakespeare in his sonnets refers to a “combination of humors of the body” which determines a person’s “complexion” or his/her temperament. As such, the author asserts ...

In the 1923 modern Italian sonnet, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” Edna St. Vincent Millay narrates how numerous loves in her life ultimately came to an end and how miserable she felt because of those losses. Millay depicts the explicit meaning of sonnet by using many of different aspects of its form, such as its mood, structure, turns, and particularly the powerful metaphor. This sonnet is centered on two major themes, namely change and loss. The season imagery used by Millay makes the theme of change most apparent. Although most of the sonnet revolves ...

Dickinson’s “Crumbling is not an instant's act”and Shakespeare’s “That time of year thou mayst in me behold”

Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Crumbling is not an instant's act,” is a fascinating description of how a person’s life or self disintegrates. Reading this text by Dickenson gives the feeling of seeing a deeper truth about a common concept, which in this case is personal “crumbling,” “dilapidation,” or “slipping” (1, 3, 12). Emotions that are depicted in the poem include wonder, detachment, and resignation. The wonder felt about “crumbling” comes from the visual descriptions that Dickinson gives to the process, calling it “a Cobweb on the soul” and “Devil’s work” among other things (5, 9). Dickinson describes the process of “crumbling” as ...

Compare Sidney's 'Astrophel and Stella, sonnet 3' with Shakespeare's sonnet 83

It has to be reckoned that poetry is one of the most enchanting forms of literary expression that has intrigued the literary critics and readers alike. Poetry provides the poet with the aesthetic freedom of traversing the avenues of imagination so as to reach out to the avid readers with the poetic expressions and portrayals. Sonnet is one of the most famous forms of poetry that has engaged the readers with its quintessence of form and artistic content. Many famous literary artists have engaged in penning sonnets from the core of their hearts to enthrall the readers all over ...

Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet Twenty-nine

Often time writers writing express their inner turmoil. Although there is no record saying that sonnet twenty-nine is a result of tumult facing Shakespeare at the time the sonnet was produced, it is safe to say that he did draw some inspiration from the state of his mental and financial well-being during that particular time of his life.
Some of the best writings are the writing one has lived. Fifteen ninety-two, the year sonnet twenty-nine was written, was not a good year for Shakespeare. The theatres closed due to the outbreak of a plague, bringing a halt to his livelihood; and literary ...

Tone

The tone of this sonnet is dark and melancholy. It is filled with imagery which puts an emphasis on the madness of the subject, as well as the sadness of the poet for being trapped in her life and wanting the freedom the madman has. The structure of the sonnet, the descriptive adjectives used as well as other vocabulary, and the figurative language employed in it all provide a backdrop of misery and gloom.

Musical Devices

The most prominent musical device which is immediately apparent on first reading the sonnet is the rhyming words. As with sonnets of the ...

A Response to a Sonnet by Shakespeare

Abstract
I am going to write about my response to ‘Sonnet 130’. I chose this sonnet because it made me laugh at Shakespeare’s stated attitude to his lover, because it is so unexpected when you first read the poem, but the the sonnet is read you come to understand that Shakespeare is also making a serious point baout love and the stereotypical images of feminine beauty that were dominant in his day. Those stereotypical images have their parallel in our society too, because through the media images of what women should look like ideally are carefully used to ...

Through “Sonnet 43”, Elizabeth Barrett Browning introduces a love declaration that transcends through time and space, the world of living and the one beyond life. Love is the central theme of the sonnet, and an in loved person is the main character. The peom is written in the first person, so there can be interpreted that the author is the one that declares her love for somebody. She does not describe the person to whom she addresses the love poem, but she does describe her love for that person, by employing an enumeration, which represents the main part of the ...

Poems usually focus around different topics. “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brook, “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall, “Dream Boogie” by Langston Hughes and “The Red Wheelbarrow” by Williams have a lot of common and different features. It is necessary to analyze each of the poems in order to find them.
Gwendolyn Brooks' ballad "We Real Cool" aggregates up the truth that numerous adolescents confronted on the off chance that they cleared out school. Numerous adolescents abandoned the thought of having a future, since they were informed that they had no future; so why attempt. The young men in ...

Literature

My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun by William Shakespeare
And My Lady’s Presence Makes the Roses Red by Henry Constable
Sonnets have always been an example of a very sensitive poem that is able to convey the deepest feelings of the author and arise the same feelings in the reader. Even though sonnets always have a strict structure consisting of exactly fourteen lines and a special rhyme scheme, they are not devoid of a poetical touch that has been fascinating readers of any tastes for many centuries since the times of Petrarch, Shakespeare and other masters ...

William Shakespeare considered the greatest English writer has developed a vast work, approaching various themes in the plays or poems that he created. Another highly appreciated English poet is Andrew Marvell, who besides poetry was also a politician, which is visible in his work, as many poems approach politics as the main theme. This paper takes a closer look at the two poets’ literary works, focusing on two of their poems, respectively “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare Thee to a Summer Day” (William Shakespeare) and “The Garden” (Andrew Marvell), identifying the common themes between the two poems, depicting other similarities, as ...

This paper entails an anthology of three poems. These poems include Langston Hughes’s Poem As I grew older, Shakespeare’s Sonnet #4, and Emily Dickinson’s "Nature" is what we see. These three poems are crafted by poets with great experience about life and nature. The overarching message that is presented in these three poems is that life is difficult and has numerous challenges. Every opportunity that comes our ways should be exploited to its fullest. Our lives should be simple so that we can sustainably protect resources for future generations.
The rationale of this anthology is ...

John Milton, in the poem On His Blindness, talks of the frustration of the speaker who is blind and hence unable to serve God. The speaker’s frustration finds a reply from “Patience” who tells that the Almighty does not really require man’s work. All he asks for is the perseverance to bear with the “mild yoke” and embrace what the God asks for with faith in heart. The poet puts to use the form and his quintessential touch in language and content of his work. The poem is considered one of Milton’s immortal literary works. A close ...

Wit was written by Margaret Edson. This one-act play has won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is a story which deals with the medical profession as well as with the culture of education at universities. Both sides are brilliant in this story. Vivian Bearing is represents brilliant academic staff whereas, Doctor Kelekian and Dr Jason Posner represent the brilliant side of medical research. None of them have emotions when it comes to work. The only character which feels empathy for Vivian is the nurse, Susie. She is the only character who is acting humane.
Whereas Vivian is strict ...