Introduction This paper aims to investigate the language variation and changes and the rhetorical analysis of the poem ‘Sonnet 144’ by William Shakespeare. By using language variation it will help me understanding the language used in the poem, and how language has changed through the years. To get at good insight of the meaning of the words there are used I will do a rhetorical analysis to look at metaphors in the poem. The Poem ‘Sonnet 144’ by William Shakespeare was first published in 1599 together with sonnet 138. The whole collection of 154 sonnets was later published in 1609 called Shake-spears sonnets. The first 126 of the sonnets were written to a young man and the last 28 were addressed to a woman. The poem ‘Sonnet 144’ by William Shakespeare is an English sonnet, which follows a …show more content…
Examining the first line of the Sonnet we would change the structure. ‘Two loves I have of comfort and despair’. Here we see that the main verb is written after the after the object. This is typically written structure in a poem, because it makes the line more poetic. (Linguistics p. 367). If it was just written in a text message or something likewise it would be written with the main verb before the object: ‘I have two loves of comfort at despair’. It is important to mention that either way is more correct than the other, the last example is simply just the norm of standard language. When describing the male Shakespeare uses gentle and loving words. Words such as ‘angel’, ‘saint’, ‘purity’ and ‘comfort’ etc. are common words used in a poem with love as a theme. Shakespeare embraces his male friend. Exanimating the woman he uses words of evil character. For example ‘despair’, ‘ill’, ‘evil’, ‘devil’ etc. are words used to express hatred. Investigating the poem we know that Shakespeare is jealous and frustrated over the behavior of the