How Did Shakespeare Influence Poetry

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William Shakespeare has had a major impact and influence on poetry that ranges from his era to later eras. He is largely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of the English language. Shakespearean sonnets have become prominent for their particular form that he utilizes in the sonnets. He has made many contributions to English Literature and we still to this day study his work. Some of the most notable authors that Shakespeare has influenced are Herman Melville and Charles Dickens, and he continues to influence new authors. Shakespeare is renowned for his pattern of themes, imagery, and structure. Shakespearean sonnet themes include immortality, love, and beauty which are still studied today because of the impact he has made on poetry. The main theme of Sonnet 18 is the stability of love and its power to immortalize who the poet is writing about. In the article it states that Shakespeare can be divided into three sections and Sonnet 18 falls under …show more content…

In Sonnet 128, Shakespeare displays a different type of imagery and writing style. In an article, it describes Sonnet 128 as being “deliberately constructed to arouse protest, a strong and appropriate protest against the moral state that it dramatizes” (Purdum 239). It is evident that Shakespeare changed in his writing style because “Shakespeare 's Sonnet 128 can appear embarrassing or inconsequential, at best slight, especially if one tries to reconstruct a unified Dark Lady series” (Purdum 235). Sonnet 18 is a prominent example of imagery that Shakespeare uses when he includes a summer’s day and the darling buds of May. He uses this imagery in his sonnets to help convey his message to the reader. Another example of imagery is in Sonnet 73, when Shakespeare focuses on the nature of a winter day. He uses this imagery of winter to compare it to the emptiness that old age brings to a