Sonnets by Shakespeare

Pick any three of Shakespeare’s sonnets and compare and contrast them on the basis of subject matter and form. (116, 144,147)

      Sonnets 116, 144 and 147 are all constructed in the usual Shakespearean sonnet manner. They consist of three quatrains and a final couplet which is composed in iambic parameter. The rhyme scheme for all of those sonnets is abab cdcd efef gg. In all of them the author has used different literary devices to express his main ideas.
The three sonnets 116, 144 and 147 come from different sequences. Sonnet 116 is still talking about the platonic and true love of Shakespeare towards the young youth, while sonnet 147 is concentrated on the lustful love of the author towards the “dark lady” which is the second important image in the Shakespearean sonnets. Sonnet 144 is the only one who is embodying the two images at one place and probably hinting for a secret relationship between them. Thus the relationship between those three sonnets is very interesting to contrast and compare, because the images of the dark woman and the fair man could be traced in the whole universe of the Sonnets, as a main theme of his struggle and his desire of understanding the true nature of love and they have their “meeting” in the lines of sonnet 144.
Sonnet 116 is explaining the divine nature of love. Every quatrain is explaining a different vision on love. The last two lines are assuring the author’s stable views on the position he took about love in the previous quatrains. In this sonnet love is portrayed as platonic, there is an absence of the usual lust and desire connected with love. The author talks about the “marriage of true minds”, implying that in its purest form true love is platonic and it is connecting the minds of the people in sacred union. This type of love is the first type of love Shakespeare is explaining in the consequences of the young man sonnets. In 116 he is picturing this type of love as eternal and unshakable from different...