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Sonnets | Overview
In this excerpt, Maurice Charney discusses the development of the sonnet form and the effectiveness of his concluding couplets, the motifs of time and mutability, lyric and dramatic elements, and the poet-speaker's reflections on his creative powers.
Maurice Charney
[In this concise appraisal of various issues associated with Shakespeare's sonnets, Charney pays particular attention to Shakespeare's development of the sonnet form and the effectiveness of his concluding couplets. Charney also discusses the motifs of time and mutability, the presence of both lyric and dramatic elements in the sequence, and the poet-speaker's reflections on his creative powers.]
Thomas Thorpe published 154 Sonnets by Shakespeare followed by A Lover's Complaint (also said to be by Shakespeare) in...
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- Sonnets: Introduction
- Sonnets: Narrative
- Sonnets: Text of the Sonnets
- Sonnets: Background
- Sonnets: Characters
- Sonnets: Themes
- Sonnets: Exemplary Sonnets
- Sonnets: Critical Assessment
- Sonnets: Character Analysis
- Sonnets: Principal Topics
-
Sonnets: 20 Sonnets Analyzed
- Sonnet 1—From fairest creatures we desire increase
- Sonnet 6—Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
- Sonnet 18—Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
- Sonnet 19—Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws
- Sonnet 29—When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
- Sonnet 30—When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
- Sonnet 35—No more be grieved at that which thou hast done
- Sonnet 38—How can my muse want subject to invent
- Sonnet 55—Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
- Sonnet 60—Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
- Sonnet 66—Tired with all these, for restful death I cry
- Sonnet 73—That time of year thou mayst in me behold
- Sonnet 76—Why is my verse so barren of new pride
- Sonnet 79—Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid
- Sonnet 91—Some glory in their birth, some in their skill
- Sonnet 106—When in the chronicle of wasted time
- Sonnet 116—Let me not to the marriage of true minds
- Sonnet 130—My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
- Sonnet 138—When my love swears that she is made of truth
- Sonnet 147—My love is as a fever longing still
- Sonnets: Essays
- Sonnets: Criticism
-
Sonnets: FAQs
- Why did Shakespeare use the sonnet cycle form?
- Who Is the "Young Man" addressed in the sonnets?
- Who Is the "Dark Lady" addressed in the sonnets?
- Do any of the sonnets depart from the standard Shakespearean sonnet form?
- What are the principal themes of the sonnets?
- Why do so many of the sonnets begin with a question?
- Sonnets: Bibliography and Further Reading
- Sonnets: Pictures
- Copyright
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