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Critical Analysis Of Shakespeare's Sonnet 15

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New Critical Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 15 • Rhyme Scheme—abab cdcd efef gg • Meter—Iambic Pentameter • The poem has three quatrains a rhyming couplet • The sonnet contains a Volta or shift in the poem’s subject matter beginning with third quartrain.In the first two quartrains,he is talking about the idea of growth-youth and old age and beauty but from the third quatrain he begins talking about his love for his friend/lover and the idea of keeping him/her alive. When I consider everything that grows • The speaker is probably Shakespeare himself. • The speaker is pondering over the idea of growth. • The idea of growth-young, old, senile is being talked about. Holds in perfection but a little moment, • Since there is growth, …show more content…

Throughout the peom,the speaker keeps pointing out that everyone’s existence is temporary and nobody is going to stay on earth permanently .But his love for the friend/lover makes him question the laws of nature and by the end of the poem, he figures out a way of keeping his lover/friend alive through his poems. He has presented the idea of war and love(Paradox) and how they are somehow related, if there is love, there is also a war to sustain that love. He has also pointed to the idea of obedience and disobedience. Since humans have no choice but to obey the laws of nature and suffer loss, they cannot disobey the nature and since it’s in human nature to disobey (The story of Disobedience-Adam and Eve), poets have found out or created a way of going against the laws of nature. They have created a way of their own to permanent existence of humankind. The speaker is talking about the idea of rebirth and regeneration by mentioning that if it’s not possible for the nature to keep his lover alive,he will do it himself through his art of poetry.The people will read his poems and will get to know about his lover’s beauty and thus his friend /lover will stay alive in the minds and hearts of the readers. Another paradox of Day and night is presented to show a person’s transformation from youthful beauty to old age. Words like ‘holds in perfection but a little moment’, at height decrease, inconstant stay etc in the three quatrains point to the idea that since humans are born, they also have to die and that cannot be changed. The idea in the first stanza is the world being a stage, The second stanza compares humans to plants and how they eventually die and decay like plants, the third stanza expresses his concern for his lover/friend and

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