Shakespeares Sonnets Through Time

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

William Shakespeare grew in his writing from when he wrote his first sonnet to his last. He wrote 154 sonnets throughout his lifetime. In 1609, Thomas Thorpe published Shakespeare sonnets maybe without his knowledge or help of Shakespeare. The book is called "Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Never Before Imprinted." It consists of all of Shakespeare’s sonnets. His sonnets deal with themes such as passing time, love, beauty and mortality. Shakespeare’s first eighteen sonnets focus on a lover. They are actually addressed to this friend who is unknown but it is thought that Shakespeare’s lover was a man. Yes, Shakespeare is thought to have been a homosexual. The focus of these sonnets is to persuade this "friend" to start a family together so that his beauty can live on through his children. Shakespeare has grown throughout his life and this is seen in his sonnets.

Shakespeare’s eighteenth sonnet, and the last of his that tells of a lover, is probably his most famous. The first two lines are a quite memorable metaphor, "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate" (18). The sonnet in its entirety states that Shakespeare’s love us as beautiful as a summer day, but that summer is brief. He says that his love will enjoy eternal youth though his words. This would seem to suggest that his love has passed on or is denying his advances. The idea of his love wanting to keep a distance from him would make sense when we explore Shakespeare’s following sonnets, which he uses to discuss the passing of time and its effects on he and his lover. The man thought to be the focus of Shakespeare’s affections is the Earl of Southampton.

From Shakespeare’s nineteenth sonnet to his twenty-fifth are often put together as a group. The theme of his Sonnet 19, which is also found in some of his early sonnets, is the destructions of time. Shakespeare expresses his extreme fear of time in the sonnets that involve his male lover, and his worries seem to disappear in the later sonnets that are dedicated to who is known as his ‘dark lady.’ Specifically, Shakespeare is horrified by the thought of his lover showing physical signs of aging. There seems to be no doubt that his relationship with his male lover is one strictly dependent upon lust. This is the opposite of the relationship Shakespeare had with his mistress, also known as his "dark lady" whom is thought to be a woman by the name of Emilia Bassano which was seemingly based on love and mutual understanding. It was never proven that she was in fact his mistress but she is considered to be the "dark lady" that he speaks of in his sonnets.

Between the time that Shakespeare wrote Sonnets 32 and 33, the poet's attitude toward his relationship with his lover has changed. While he had been focused on his own mortality throughout Sonnets 27-32, now the poet has a new dilemma to bump him from his previous obsession. In Sonnets 33-35 the poet makes it clear that he has been deeply hurt by his lover. We do not know what may have caused Shakespeare such anger, although we can guess that his lover had many love interests outside of Shakespeare, and he may have surrounded himself with other friends leaving the poet feeling isolated and unwanted. He uses many words in this sonnet to show imagery such as the phrase "golden face". Shakespeare more than often in this sonnet uses imagery words that tend to have more negative connotations such as: ugly, disgrace, and disdaineth. He uses these to show that he is not happy with the things that his lover is doing.

In Shakespeare’s 58th sonnet, he seems to have to the realization that he will not be with his lover any time soon. The last two lines state, "I am to wait, though waiting so be hell, not blame your pleasure, be it ill or well"(58). Shakespeare is saying that he will wait for his love, even though it will put him through agony. As time has gone by, so as Shakespeare’s fondness and lust for his lover, the Earl of Southampton.

In conclusion, we can see that Shakespeare has gone full circle in terms of his "relationship" with his prospective lover. He has gone from the initial feelings of lust and attraction that precedes every relationship to the chase that follows when someone attempts to make another their boyfriend or girlfriend. Like many teen and young adult relationships that are short-lived or never come to fruition, one member is more committed than the other, in this situation Shakespeare. His lover is not committed to the relationship or does not want any part of it and he does something that Shakespeare does not approve of, which makes Shakespeare angry. After the pain of this happening, Shakespeare realizes that his lover will not be with him in the near future and he begins the process of moving on.

Obviously, there are more sonnets by Shakespeare, 96 to be exact. In these sonnets, Shakespeare goes on to describe love and he references his "dark lady" more often. He occasionally will bring up his lover again, but these few sonnets in which he does seem to be more nostalgic rather than looking to a future with the Earl of Southampton. He has almost completely moved on from his lust filled past and has grown to appreciate the life he has now with his "dark lady", Emilia Bassano.