The rhyme scheme in the sonnet is ABABBCBCCDCDEE. Sonnet 75 Summary
English Notes Latest Questions
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The central idea of the sonnet is how the poet talks of writing his lover's name in the sand and then seeing it get carried away by the tide. He persists regardless of the number of times it occurs. Even after his sweetheart informs him that she doesn't want to live forever, he keeps writing. She shRead more
The central idea of the sonnet is how the poet talks of writing his lover’s name in the sand and then seeing it get carried away by the tide. He persists regardless of the number of times it occurs. Even after his sweetheart informs him that she doesn’t want to live forever, he keeps writing. She shouldn’t live among the world’s lesser things, in his opinion. Spenser’s speaker implies in his conclusion that his love will continue forever
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Extended Metaphor: The entire poem hinges on an extended metaphor where the ocean and its relentless waves represent the passage of time, threatening to erase everything in its path, including the speaker's love and his written words. This comparison between the impermanence of physical things and tRead more
- Extended Metaphor: The entire poem hinges on an extended metaphor where the ocean and its relentless waves represent the passage of time, threatening to erase everything in its path, including the speaker’s love and his written words. This comparison between the impermanence of physical things and the enduring power of love forms the core of the poem’s message.
- Imagery: Vivid imagery brings the poem to life. The opening lines paint a clear picture of the waves washing away the inscription on the sand, while later lines evoke images of marble tombs, skies filled with stars, and a phoenix rising from its ashes. These images effectively communicate the fleeting nature of life and the contrast with the everlasting power of love.
- Enjambment: The poet frequently uses enjambment, where a sentence runs over from one line to the next without a punctuation mark. This creates a sense of flow and momentum, mirroring the relentlessness of time and the speaker’s determination to defy it. Lines 9 and 10, for instance, with their enjambment, build tension and anticipation before revealing the speaker’s hope for his love’s immortality.
- Alliteration: Spenser uses alliteration throughout the poem to create a musical quality and emphasize keywords. For example, the repetition of “w” sounds in the first line (“One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away:”) mimics the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Other notable examples include “pains” and “prey” in line 4, and “verse” and “virtues” in line 11.
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The sonnet delves into the metaphor of life as a stage show, portraying the speaker's feelings and mental states as different dramatic genres like tragedy and comedy. The beloved's apathy serves as the inspiration for the sonnet's central theme. The poet expresses a range of emotions, yet the beloveRead more
The sonnet delves into the metaphor of life as a stage show, portraying the speaker’s feelings and mental states as different dramatic genres like tragedy and comedy. The beloved’s apathy serves as the inspiration for the sonnet’s central theme. The poet expresses a range of emotions, yet the beloved doesn’t change or react.
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The rhyme scheme is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. Sonnet 54 Summary
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The sonnet delves into the issue of emotional alienation, capturing the speaker's anguish and hopelessness as he struggles with his beloved's seeming lack of emotional interest. Sonnet 54 Summary
The sonnet delves into the issue of emotional alienation, capturing the speaker’s anguish and hopelessness as he struggles with his beloved’s seeming lack of emotional interest.
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Metaphor: One of the poem's central ideas is the extended metaphor of life as a theatre. The world is presented as a stage on which the speaker plays a variety of heartfelt events for the viewer, who stands in for the beloved. Personification: The speaker personifies his love, describing her as a spRead more
- Metaphor: One of the poem’s central ideas is the extended metaphor of life as a theatre. The world is presented as a stage on which the speaker plays a variety of heartfelt events for the viewer, who stands in for the beloved.
- Personification: The speaker personifies his love, describing her as a spectator sitting idly, delighting, mocking, and hardening her heart.
- Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, as seen in “And mask in myrth lyke to a Comedy:” and “But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry,” contributes to the natural flow of the poem.
- Irony: The poem’s emotional effect is further enhanced by the ironic juxtaposition between the speaker’s true feelings and the beloved’s apathetic response.
- Rhetorical question: The question posed in the lines “What then can move her? if not merth nor mone,” is rhetorical, serving to highlight the speaker’s perplexity and frustration.
- Paradox: A figure of speech known as a paradox occurs when a statement seems to contradict itself. “But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry/ She laughs, and hardens evermore her heart.” In this statement, there is a contradiction of ideas when the phrases laughing and crying are used together.
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The rhyme pattern of the poem is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE, and it is written in iambic pentameter. Amoretti Summary
The rhyme pattern of the poem is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE, and it is written in iambic pentameter.
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Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity. For example, in the lines "But came the waves and washed it away" and "My verse your virtues rare shall eternize." Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within words. For example, in the lines "A mortaRead more
- Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity. For example, in the lines “But came the waves and washed it away” and “My verse your virtues rare shall eternize.”
- Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within words. For example, in the lines “A mortal thing so to immortalize” and “Where whenas death shall all the world subdue.”
- Personification: Giving human qualities or attributes to non-human entities. For example, the waves are personified as actively washing away the written name, and death is personified as subduing the world.
- Metaphor: A comparison between two unrelated things to create a vivid image or evoke a certain emotion. For example, the line “let baser things devise / To die in dust, but you shall live by fame” compares the beloved’s immortality through fame to the mortality of other things that perish in dust.
The poem "Sonnet 75" explores the impact of poetry in general. The speaker of the poem wishes for his beloved to live on forever. Still, she counters that this is futile and unnecessary because she is a human person and would eventually pass away together with her mortal body. On the other hand, theRead more
The poem “Sonnet 75” explores the impact of poetry in general. The speaker of the poem wishes for his beloved to live on forever. Still, she counters that this is futile and unnecessary because she is a human person and would eventually pass away together with her mortal body. On the other hand, the speaker feels that her nobility and beauty merit eternal glory, and that he may use his poetry to immortalize her and give her a measure of victory over death.
Sonnet 75 Summary
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