The rhyme scheme is ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. Sonnet 54 Summary
English Notes Latest Questions
-
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.
See less
-
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.
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.
Sonnet 54 Summary
See less