What paradoxes can be found in Sonnet 30?
As a literary device, paradox is the juxtaposition of two or more different ideas, images, or words that might otherwise seem incongruous to each other. Shakespeare employed paradox often throughout his whole canon, and there are examples of it in “Sonnet 30.” The very first line: “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought,” along with being beautiful alliteration, contains the minor paradox of sweetness and silence, two things that do not often go together.
A more pronounced paradox occurs on line 3: “I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.” To sigh the lack of something is an engaging idea. Anyone can relate to the narrator’s sentiment, but to have a physical response to the idea of nothingness is a paradox within itself.
Paradoxes based in verbiage occur later in the poem. The ends of lines 6 and 8 for example, “dateless night” and...
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“vanished sight,” are both paradoxes. The word “dateless” here means without a fixed duration, and since “nights” generally start at dusk and finish at morning, it is an incongruous phrase. “Vanished sight” as well is almost anoxymoron, as something that is vanished should not usually be able to see nor be seen. Lastly, the entire thrust and idea behind the poem is a bit of a paradox. The narrator spends twelve lines bemoaning past losses and injuries, only to say in the final couplet:
“But if the while I think of thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.”
Thereby undercutting the drama and tragedy of the rest of the poem. All in all, it is one of Shakespeare’s very best sonnets, using paradox—and many other poetic devices—to brilliant effect.
Analyze Shakespeare's sonnet 30.
Sonnet 30 by William Shakespeare has,at first sight, a generally melancholy air running through it. The sonnet speaks of loss and sorrow and has a mood of nostalgia for past things, people and experiences. But Shakespeare's sonnet is bittersweet, because as the sorrowful outpouring continues, we see there is, thankfully, some comfort for the writer - a crumb of comfort to make up for all that he has lost. Friendship is a precious gift and he acknowledges the sweetness of that as the sonnet ends.
The sonnet has a thoughtful, contemplative mood rather than a bitter and angry feel. The discontentedness of the writer is rueful rather than full of rage. He bemoans all the time he wasted chasing after things which now seem trivial and the expense to himself both in terms of time and emotion. He seems to wish he had not spent so much energy on them and feels it wasn't a good investment. Then he weighs all this up against what he still has left - good things and happy memories - and decides that after all, most of his life balances out and we get a feeling of things being evaluated, and on balance, the poet's life has been good. He feels glad to have known his friends and loved ones and that the experience of that was valuable. The sonnet is punctuated with spaces, sighs and breaths but at the end one imagines a smile.
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 30 focuses on the relationship between past and present and between pain and pleasure. The speaker spends most of the poem considering the role of memory and nostalgia, both of which renew and prolong the pain that they had previously experienced. Once a person has suffered a serious loss, the speaker claims, memory will not allow them to let go. Reliving the events causes just as much pain as the original event did.
The harsh realities of life seem to concern the speaker—perhaps even overwhelm them. Balancing out this morbid fascination, however, is the idea that human affection and companionship can, and perhaps should, override negative memories. The speaker ends the poem with positive reflections on friendship and loyalty.
What is a critical analysis of the final lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 30?
A critical analysis of these lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 will examine the position of the lines within the poem, look at what they add to the poem's meaning, and explore their effectiveness. Let's do some brainstorming to get you started.
For most of the sonnet, the poet is lamenting things that are past and/or lost. He sighs at his memories of woes long gone and cries again as though they are fresh. He mourns loved ones who have died and groans over lost loves. The speaker allows himself to be caught up in sorrow and to remember all the woes, bemoaning them anew, paying his grief all over again.
But then we reach these last two lines. Most of Shakespeare's sonnets show a twist of sorts in the final couplet. This one certainly does. Notice how we have the contrasting "But" to start the lines. The speaker, directly addressing his "dear friend," announces that thinking of that friend completely changes his mind. He finds restoration and happiness in the mere thought of this friend. The friend counteracts all the grief and woe and lamenting that the speaker has been doing.
When we reflect on the meaning of this, then, we discover that a true connection with another human being can go a long way in changing the miseries of life and of the past into a restoration of a present that is content.