Sep 8, 2008

Sonnets | Common Difficulties in Understanding the Sonnets

Essay examining common difficulties that readers have in understanding the sonnets. Discusses how to approach the sonnets as they convey thoughts and evoke emotional responses. Also touches on the cultural tradition of the sonnets.

Many modern readers are surprised by the difficulty that they encounter in trying to understand Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnets are, of course, short poems composed in standard fourteen-line form with a uniform rhyme pattern and in a poetic meter (iambic pentameter) that mirrors conversational English. Granted, there are some archaic words and phrases embedded in Shakespeare's sonnets, but most editions include explanatory notes that provide definitions and synonyms. It would seem, then, that these brief pieces would be relatively easy to comprehend and explain. Nevertheless, those who...