Sonnets Shakespeare And John Donne Essay Research

Sonnets, Shakespeare And John Donne Essay, Research Paper

The word sonnet comes from the Italian word sonneto, meaning little song and respectively originated in Italy around the thirtieth century. It is one of the most formal poetic devices and usually has an intricate rhyming scheme. Sonnets typically state a problem, explore implications and then resolve the dilemma. Shakespeare and Donne were both highly respected sonnet writers of their time, and their works truly portrayed society’s ideals of the time. When comparing Shakespeare s sonnets to that of John Donne, one can truly see that both have a particular style, share similar themes and reflect societies’ ideals in each piece of poetic verse. John Donne used a peculiar rhyming scheme when writing most of his sonnets. It was in sharp opposition to that of most Elizabethan sonnets. He had a very sharp, unconventional style and used striking images to point out an unusual parallel between objects seemingly dissimilar. He often used paradoxes or rather an oxymoron to show the contradiction between situations or objects. A general Italian sonnets are divided into two parts; an octave and a sestet, often taking the form abba, abba, cdcdcd. These sonnets also stated and developed a conflict in the first and second quatrains and then solved it using the sestet. Donne however concocted his own form, not using the fourteen line, iambic pentameter model as the root of all sonnets. He did however use it when he wrote his nineteen Holy Sonnets. For example Holy Sonnet 10 uses the regular Italian sonnet pattern with iambic pentameter. Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you… (Donne, 10, i) This is unlike the Shakespearean sonnet that typically took on a different rhyming scheme. Shakespeare s sonnets were usually three quatrains and a couplet, typical of the Elizabethan structure. Each quatrain would complicate the situation and advance the plot, then it was resolved using the couplet. The form for such sonnets was abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Shakespeare also strayed from the norm and satirized the Petrarchan blazon. These were hyperbolic praises about an ideal woman, which were often stated by listing her qualities. Sonnet 130 is the exact opposite and rather than putting his mistress up on a pedestal, Shakespeare lowers her to human standards. He loves her because she is not fake or stretching to fit society’s ideals. And in some perfume is there more delight / Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. (Shakespeare 130, vii-viii) It is widely known that Shakespeare s sonnets were biographical in nature, but John Donne also wrote about his life through his works. John Donne s sonnets can be divided into two distinct categories; the first phase of witty love poems, and the second phase having religious merit. He had secretly married a sixteen year old to whom the first sonnets are directed toward. After this scandal passed he became a preacher and became very concerned with the Roman Catholic religion. This is where the Holy Sonnets were derived from. The direct link between the two is in the vivid immediacy (Adventures, 236) he shows towards the girl and God. Shakespeare on the other hand, has three groups of sonnets directed at three different people. The first one hundred and twenty-six sonnets are address to a young man, who is particularly noted for his feminine qualities. These poems express his admiration and love for the young fellow, and also warn him of the destructive power of time and moral weakness. Sonnets seventy-eight to eighty-six are for a rival poet with the initials W.H., who also had written poems for the young man mentioned in the above sentences. The last sonnets were directed toward a mistress with dark features, whom the speaker and young man seemed to be involved with. Sonnets were often about women or love and Donne s first phase of poetry reflected this definitive theme. Song (go and catch a falling star) is showing how beautiful women are fickle. The speaker makes statements of impossible actions and fantastic ideas Teach me to hear mermaids singing… (Donne, Song, v) He also states that women can be true and fair, which is satirical because women were idealized for their beauty but really were not as good looking in reality. This is helping the reader to prepare for the falsity of fair women. Donne is trying to say that there are women who are true but they cannot live up to this picturesque ideal of the beauty shown in blazons. Shakespeare also portrayed women as being human and real, which was rare for this time period. Sonnet 130 was written for his dark haired mistress but instead of saying she is a goddess, he says she is human and that is why he loves her. She is simply human and yet she is special to him regardless of her physical attributes. Shakespeare pokes fun at all these improbable comparisons… (Rowse, 271) The speaker of this sonnet has been called anti-petrarchan because it celebrates the fact that the dark haired lady is opposite of the ladies idealized in most Renaissance love poetry. Love is shown as an internal force that can win over external forces such as society s ideals. According to Shakespeare, love is more profound than the materialistic, romantic poems his era seems to imply. The theme of separation from a loved one by death or mere adventure is another similar aspect in Donne and Shakespeare s sonnets. Donne s Song (sweetest love, I do not go) gives reasons why his beloved should