Critical Study on SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS

-SANJIB KR BISWAS
1) Examine Shakespearean Sonnet 60 as Bold Rejoinder to Time.

Time always plays a vital role in Shakespearean Sonnets. Sonnet 60 is acknowledged as one of
Shakespeare's greatest because it deals with the universal concerns of time and its passing. The
sonnet belongs to Shakespeares first series of Sonnet devoted to his male friend. . Each uatrain of
the sonnet presents a relatively self!contained metaphorical description of times passage in human life
and also shows us how human life is helpless in the race of time.
"n the sonnet# time is symboli$ed by concrete images. %or e&ample# the opening two lines present a
simile in which time is represented by 'waves' and 'minutes'( 'Like as the waves make towards the
pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end') here# death is 'the pebbled shore' *
another concrete image.

"n the second uatrain# the poet laments time's unfairness. + child * ',ativity' * is born and# over
time# matures to adulthood# and yet the adult now dreads the maturation process as he grows
increasingly older and thus reaches the point of death# or the end of time. Time# which gives life# now
takes it away( 'And Time that gave doth now his gift confound."

-oet is tensed about the growing maturity between him and his friend. The antithesis in lines . through
/0 is between the aging poet and the youth's good looks. The poet warns# "Time doth transfix the
flourish set on outh / And delves the parallels in beaut!s brow.' "n other words# the young man
currently is beautiful# but 'parallels' wrinkles will eventually appear# as they have on the poet. 1owever
much the young man and the poet would like beauty to reside forever on the youth's face# 'And
nothing stands but for his scthe to mow.'
,onetheless# the poet promises to immortali$e the youth's good looks before time's wrinkles
appear on his face( 'And et to times in hope m verse shall stand, / "raising th worth, despite
his cruel hand.'
2nlike the poet's promise in Sonnet /.# this assurance does not include giving the young man
eternal beauty. "n the third uatrain# time is depicted as a ravaging monster# which halts youthful
flourish# digs wrinkles in the brow of beauty# gobbles up natures beauties# and mows down with his
scythe everything that stands. The speaker opposes his verse to the ravages of time( he says that his
verse will stand in times to come# and will continue to praise the 3worth4 of the beloved despite the
3cruel hand4 of time.
"n spite of being tensed of cruelty of time against the human race the poet sometimes find ray of hopes.
"n the final couplet# the speaker opposes his verse to the ravages of time( he says that his verse will
stand in times to come# and will continue to praise the 3worth4 of the beloved despite the 3cruel hand4 of
time. 1ence Shakespearean Sonnet 60 stands as bold re5oinder to time.
06 How would you onsider Shakespearean sonnets as tense psyholo!ial drama
Shakespearean Sonnets are no doubt prominent poetic creation treating the psychology of
poets mind. They tell a story of the struggle of love and forgiveness against anguish and
#aigan$, %% &ec'%(() *%(() http+//san$ibkrbiswas.hpage.com Page / of 7
Critical Study on SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS
-SANJIB KR BISWAS
despair. Shakespeare has brought the sonnets as dramatic e&pression created for his love and
depression.
Sonnet 60 and //6 deal with poets conventional psychology of time and love. -oet is worried about
limitation of human beings over the time. 1e is very much depressed of his friends growing maturity
and also of himself. +ccording to the poet nothing is everlasting in the world but the time. The poet
knows that one day his love will be driven away by the cruel chariot of time. 8ut he can observe the ray
of hope thinking that his verse will rule the world over the time.'+nd yet to times in hope my verse shall
stand# 9 -raising thy worth# despite his cruel hand.'
Shakespeares deep psychology and tension about his misfortune enrich the psychological interest in
Sonnet 0. and Sonnet 70. The poet is highly depressed of his limitation over the life. The poet envies
the successful art of others and rattles off an impressive catalogue of the ills and misfortunes of his life.
1is depression is derived from his being separated from the young man# even more so because he
envisions the youth in the company of others while the poet is 'all alone.' The poet repeats Sonnet 0.'s
theme# in Sonnet 70. 8ut his melancholy and frustration are driven away by his sweet memory of love
to his friend. '8ut if the while " think on thee# dear friend# 9 +ll losses are restored and sorrows end.'
Sonnet /70# /:0 ; /:< are trivial treatment of love to his dark lady. Sonnet /70 is Shakespeares one
of the criticised Sonnet. "n this Sonnet the poet represents his psychology of earthly love completely
free from flattering. Sonnet /:< is the only sonnet that e&plicitly refers to both the =ark >ady and the
young man# the poet's 'Two loves.' +typically# the poet removes himself from the love triangle and tries
to consider the situation with detachment. -oet's mood is cynical and mocking# in part because
uncertainty about the relationship torments him. 8efore# her only words to the poet were '" hate#' but
once she sees how he 'languished for her sake#' her hatred turns into mercy. The poet creates
suspense up until the sonnet's last two words# when he uickly relieves his gloomy e&pectations by
conveying the mistress' phrase 'not you'( '" hate . . . not you.' ?elodramatically# these words 'saved
@the poet'sA life.'
Shakespeares Sonnets bring deep psychological thought of poets mind with different point of view. "t
is this tragic portrait of human love that makes the sonnets immortal. They also can be described as
psychologists who tries to inspire human mind in the midst of depression and somber. Shakespeare
gets inspiration thinking that in his absence# his verses will rule the whole world. Shakespeare is able to
shape his psychological drama in the verses of Sonnets.
") How does the poet re#li$e his disappointment in and throu!h sonnets %& and
"0'
Shakespeare wrote the dramas to give us the vivid description of the contemporary society.
Similarly he wrote the lyrics mainly sonnets to portray his own life full of depression and
disappointment. 1is sonnet 0. ; 70 which are devoted to his male friend are splendid portraits of
Shakespeares mind. Through these two sonnets poet give up his disappointment and to escape to
the land of mental satisfaction.
#aigan$, %% &ec'%(() *%(() http+//san$ibkrbiswas.hpage.com Page 0 of 7
Critical Study on SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS
-SANJIB KR BISWAS
"n sonnet 0. Shakespeare is resenting his bad luck) the poet envies the successful art of others
and rattles off an impressive catalogue of the ills and misfortunes of his life. 1is depression is
derived from his being separated from the young man# even more so because he envisions the
youth in the company of others while the poet is 'all alone.'
The first eight lines of sonnet 0.# which begin with 'Bhen#' establish a conditional argument and
show the poet's frustration with his craft. The last si& lines# e&pectedly beginning in line . with
'Cet' * similar to other sonnets' '8ut' * and resolving the conditional argument# present a
splendid image of a morning lark that 'sings hymns at heaven's gate.' This image epitomi$es the
poet's delightful memory of his friendship with the youth and compensates for the misfortunes he
has lamented.
The uses of 'state' unify the sonnet's three different sections( the first eight lines# lines . through
/0# and the concluding couplet# lines /7 and /:. +dditionally# the different meanings of state * as
a mood and as a lot in life * contrast the poet's sense of a failed and defeated life to his
e&hilaration in recalling his friendship with the youth. Dne state# as represented in lines 0 and /:#
is his state of life) the other# in line /0# is his state of mind. 2ltimately# although the poet plaintively
wails his 'outcast state' in line 0# by the end of the sonnet he has completely reversed himself( '.
. . , scorn to change m state with kings." ?emories of the young man re5uvenate his spirits.
The poet repeats Sonnet 0.'s theme in sonnet 70# that memories of the youth are priceless
compensations * not only for many disappointments and unreali$ed hopes but for the loss of
earlier friends( '-ut if the while , think on thee, dear friend, / All losses are restored and
sorrows end.' Stylistically# Sonnet 70 identically mirrors the preceding sonnet's poetic form.
The sub5ect of lost friends and lost lovers# which in this sonnet emerges only from a more general
evocation of things loved and lost# becomes the main sub5ect of sonnet 7/# which may well have been
written almost immediately afterwards and in which Shakespeare declares that all those he has lost and
lamented are# as it were reincarnated in his friend.
The sonnet continues the themes of grief# but while it is a poem about memory its language is
surprisingly legal and financial. The poet meditates in solitude on past sorrows# failures# the memory of
deceased friends# financial loses# and on old wounds. The concluding couplet# however offers the
compensation as all woes vanish in recollection of the 3dear friend4.

The sonnet ends with a touching
statement that in his thoughts of sorrow# when he thinks of his friend# 'All losses are restored and
sorrows end.'
Sonnet %) and 70 by Billiam Shakespeare the speaker describing moments of great sadness# in which
he cries over his 'outcast state' by himself. This 'outcast state' may refer to either a generally
unfavorable standing in society or a lack of financial success or due to a plague epidemic. 8ut whatever
the reason the poet ultimately gets success to re!live his disappointment through the sweet memory of
love of his male friend.
.ritten and /dited b000000000000000000000000000000000000SA12,- 3# -,S.AS
#aigan$, %% &ec'%(() *%(() http+//san$ibkrbiswas.hpage.com Page 7 of 7
Critical Study on SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS
-SANJIB KR BISWAS
+919933130881 sanjib4u4ever@gmail.com http://sanjibkrbisas.hpage.com
#aigan$, %% &ec'%(() *%(() http+//san$ibkrbiswas.hpage.com Page : of 7