Contents Introduction 2

2.2 The use of literary devices in Shakespeare sonnets.
Shakespeare likely did not write his sonnets with a conscious emphasis on literary devices, and early editors of the sonnets paid little attention to such devices (with the exception of metaphor and allusion).
However, in the era of most modern literature theory and close riding, much weight is given to the construction or deconstruction of the sonnets and Shakespeare’s use of figures of speech such as alliteration, assonance, antithesis, metonymy, synecdoche, oxymoron and others.
Much modern criticism¹⁷ also places heavy emphasis on the sexual puns and double entendres in the sonnets Shakespeare used antithesis and synecdoche. We come arose examples of these literary devices in Sonnet 12.
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night,
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver’d oer with white;
When lofty truss I see barren of leaves
which erst from heart did canopy the herd,
And summers green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing gains times sieth can make defense
Saue breed to braue him, when he takes thee hence.
Shakespeare uses antithesis in this sonnet. We come across the word hideous in sonnet. The exact meaning here is likely derived from the old French hissed meaning dreaded thus we have a balanced antithesis in brave| day and hideous night. We may come across another word summer’s green. Shakespeare here uses a literary device known as synecdoche by which a specifies part is taken for the whole; thus summer’s greent is the bounty of crops.
For examples of Shakespeare’s use of metonymy in sonnet 59
If their bee nothing new, but that Math been before,
how are our brains beguiled, which laboring for intention bearer amisse. The second burthen of a former child
Here brains … former child (2-4) and extended metaphor describing the poet’s brain as a mother’s womb, labouring to bring forth original verse only to mistakenly write something (“second burden”) that has already been written (“former child”), as if the mother had suffered two bouts of labour to give birth to the same child twice.
Oh that record could with a backward looke,
Even of five hundredth courses of the Sunne.
Five hundredth courses of the Sunne i.e five hundred years by metonymy.
Sonnet 55 is one of Shakespeare’s most famous works and noticeable deviation from other sonnets in which he appears insecure about his relationships and his own self worth.
Not marble, nor the gilded monument, of Princes shall out – live this powerful rime.
Not marble, nor the guilded monument
This line is likely an allusion to the lavish tombs of English royalty; in particular, to the tomb of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey, which contains a large sarcophagus made of black marble with gilded effigies of Ring Henry and his queen, Elizabeth of York. Poetic devices are often utilized by authors to emphasize and clarify their overall theme. One such device is alliteration where a beginning sound of a word is employed more than once in a line Shakespeare presents alliteration as the most important tool to understanding his moral in sonnet 71.
“Than thou shall hear the surly sullen bell”, clearly invokes a mood of sadness.¹⁸
The alliteration of the “S” sound is profound in seizing the reader’s focus and from it, one can imagine a church bell. Next alliteration is again employed in line 4. “From this vile world with vilest worms to devell” The repeated use of the “V” and “W” wound is apparent and brings attention to an illustration Shakespeare’s creating. Here, an image of a cruel world can be deducted, so grim that even the worms that crawl through the earth are evil.
Lastly, in the couplet another image is highlighted through the repetition of the “w” sound. “Lest the wise world” suggests a picture of a world full of intelligent people. These persons know that death is just another part of life and not to over grieve the dead.
Shakespeare used the oxymoron quite often to express mixed emotions both in his plats and his sonnets. For example we can come across oxymoron in sonnet 144.
“Fill my bad angel fire my good one out”
Here we can see oxymoron, we know oxymoron is opposite words bad and good such words
Sonnet 151.
“Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amisse”
Sonnet 72
“Unless you would device some virtuous lie”
Sonnet 130
My mistres eyes are nothing like the sunne,
Currall is farre more red,then her lips red,
If snow be white, why then her brests are dun:
If haires be wiers, black wiers grow on her head:
I haue seene Roses damaskt, red and white,
But no such Roses see I in her cheekes,
And in some perfumes is there more delight,
Then in the breath that from my Mistres reekes.
I loue to heare her speake, yet well I know,
That Musicke hath a farre more pleasing sound:
I graunt I never saw a goddesse goe,
My Mistres when shee walkes treads on the ground.
And yet by heaven I thinke my love as rare,
As any she beli’d with false compare.¹⁹
In his sonnet 130 William Shakespeare makes heavy use of irony and satire.Indeed his description of his mistress appears at first glance to be anything but flattering. However, a closer analysis of the sonnet brings to the fore deeper preooccupations than humor,Indeed,the poet is instead deeply concerned with truth and love,and denounces falsehoodthrought the sonnet.The first line of the sonnet sets the tone:”My mistress eyes are nothing like the sunne” brings forth several images.It estableshes that the poem will break with the lyric traditions of its period by reversing a common comparison with the sun,a custommary allusion to antique myth,This line,however,is ambigious.The simile only establishes the exclusion of the comparison,without enforcing a posetive or negative connotation.This reversal,however,is reinforced by the rhyme scheme “sunne”, “dun”(1.3) This association by position emphasizes the irony of the comparisons used.Additionally,the sonnet abounds with reversed hyperbole’s which are indicated by the following operators ; are nothing like/far more/no such roses/never saw (1,2,6,10,11) With the use of these operators,the break with the expected lyricsm is complete:just as the mistress is nothing like any traditional objects of comparison(sun,roses,goddess,snow) the poem itself is out of the ordinary and breaks with tradition. In writing sonnet 130,Shakespeare relied very heavily on strong sensory images to get his satirical message across.²⁰
Imagery is a poetic device that employs the five senses to create an image in the mind of the reader.In this sonnet Shakespeare draws on sight, sound and smell when he compares his mistress’ eyes to the sun,her lips to the red coral,her hair to black wires,her breasts to white snow,her cheeks to red and white roses,her breath to perfume and her voice to music.Sonet 130 as its name implies is a sonnet.Sonnets are structured poems that dictate the length,style and even content of the poem.Like sonnet 130,most sonnets are 14 lines in length and wtitten in a meter called iambic pentameter with an alternating abab rhyme scheme.In order to form iambic pentameter,the writer chooses words that alternate between an unsterssed and a stressed syllable;the first sentence of the sonnet,written out to show the stressed syllables in capital letters,would read “my MIStress’ EYES are Nothing LIKE the SUN.”Finally,sonnets often have a surpising twist to them towards the end ;in this poem,the twist comes when the reader sees that,despite his criticsms,the author does actually love his mistress.Hyperbole is a form of speech that exaggerates the facts in order to make a point.To the same extent that many romantic poets exaggerate the beauty of their mistresses,insisting that their eyes are more beautiful than the sun,their hair fairer than hold or their cheeks redder than roses,Shakespeare decides to exaggerate how unatracctive his misress is.
Sonnet 130 suggests that mistress’ hair is made of black wire,her breath reeks,her breasts are grayish brown and her voice is grating.Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 also uses satire as a literary device.In writing this poem,he was gently poking fun at the conventional romantic poems that were being written by other poets.In pointing out that his mistress’ eyes are not more beautiful than the sun,that her hair is not made of gold threads,that her cheeks are not as red as roses and that her breath is not finer than perfume,he was able to make the argument that he loves her just the same for who she is and not for an unrealistic idealized notion of beauty.Sonnet 130 is starkly different in theme than Shakespeare’s other sonnets.Most of his sonets praise his lover’s beauty,wi and worth.In fact,women are almost deified in many sonnets.Some are more melancholy than others,but no sonnet,seems insulting except this one! Wу will dissect the sonnet,by line,in an effort to understand the poem’s true message.My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun(the sun is bright and warm;her eyes are cold and dull!) Coral is far moreredthan her lips’s red (coral is a tad orange,and even coral has more color than her lips do.In fact,some coral is white.This woman’s lips must be very bland,indeed) If snow be white,why then her breasts are dun( The color of her breasts is dun,like that of a mouse sort of a dull gray or brown), If hairs be wires,black wires grow on her head ( coarse,wiry,black hair would not seem as appealing as silky,smooth hair) “I have seen roses damask’d, red and white “ (the damasked rose was a mix of red and white,perhaps pink.It was lovely to look at,and it gave off a strong fragrance) “But no such roses see I in her cheeks”(His lover’s cheeks are pale.There is no pinkish blush on her cheeks) “And in some perfumes is there more delight” (people tend to like perfume) “Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks”(but my love’s breath stinks;it is the opposite of perfume) “That music hath a far more pleasing sound”(music is so much nicer to listen to) “I grant I never saw a goddess go”( the speaker has never seen a goddess on Earth)
Sonnet 29
When in disgrace with fortune and mens eyes ,
I alone beweepe my out –cast stae,
And trouble deafe heuen with my booles cries,
And looke upon my selfe and curse my fate.
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur’d like him, like him with friends possest,
Desiring this mans art, and that mans skope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts my selfe almost despising,
Haplye I thinke on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the Larke at breake of daye arising)
From sullen earth sings himns at Heauens gate,
For thy sweet loue remembred such welth brings,
That then I skorne to change my state with Kings.
Sonnet 29 shows the poet at his most insecure and troubled.He feels unlucky,shamed,and fiercely jelaous of those around him.What causes the poet’s anguish will remain a mystery ;as will the answer to the weather the sonnets are autobiographical.However an examination of Shakespeares life around the time he wrote sonnet 29 reveals two traumatic events that may have shaped the theme of the sonnet.In 1592 the London theatres closed due to a severe outbreak of plague.Although it is possible that Shakespeare toured the outlying areas of London,it is almost certain that he left the theatre entirely during this time to work on his sonnets and narrative poems.
The closing of poems made it hard for Shakespeare and other actors of the day to earn a living.With plague and poverty looming it is excepted that he would feel “in disgrace with fortune” Morever,in 1592 there came a scathing attack on Shakespeare by dramatist Robert Greene,who,in a deathbed diary (A Groats-Worth of Wit),warned three of his fellow university educated playwrights;²¹ “There is an upstart Crow,beautified with our feathers,that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a players hide,supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you.The emotional state of the speaker in sonnet 29 is one of the depression:
William Shakespeare uses literary devices such as comparison in his sonnet to creat a powerful effect on the readers in the last quartet of sonnet 29.Shakespeare does not simple imagery and descreptive words to describe his state ,but instead compares it “to the lark at break of day arising from sullen earth”Shakespeare compares his mood to the rising sun on a morning day instead of using a simple word to describe the rising.The speaker thinks about his love and his state is instantly improved.A paraphrase of this sonnet would most likely not include a comparison,but instead speak about how his condition simply improves.Using literary devices pulls reader in by making the writing unique and easy to visualise.Shakespeare used a unique comparison to get the reader’s The literary devices used by Shakespeare leave more of posetive effect on the reader than if the reader were to read a paraphrase of a sonnet.This sonnet translating by Yusuf Shomansur,He translates this sonnet from Russian into Uzbek.
You can see the translation of sonnet here.
Baxtsizlik yillarni xotirlab, shu zum
Nizolashsam taqdir ham dunyo bilan,
Loqayd, gung falakni bezovta qilgum
Behuda, foydasiz iltijo bilan.
Shunday chog’, san’atda murodga yetib
Odamlar qalbiga kirgan kimsalar —
Koshki, o’rinlarin menga bo’shatib,
Taqdir almashmoqqa, koshki ko’nsalar.
Ammo seni eslab qolib nogihon
Ojiz tushkunlikka o’qiyman la’nat.
Qismatga ters borib, cho’qqilar tomon
Ruhim to’rg’ay bo’lib yozgaydir qanot.
To sening ishqing bor, ishqing yodi bor, -
Jamiki shohlardan qudratliman, yor²²
Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
This sonnet is an example of typical Shakespearean style,compirising three quatrians in iambic pentameter ending in a heroic couplet,following a rhyming scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. If the follows the tradition of dividing the sonnet into two parts.In the octave,time is shown as the enemy of the transitory nature of beauty and there are references to different passages of time, “day”,”may”,date”,”summer”, After the volta,highlighted by “but”,the sestet intoduces time as the solution:in the youth beauty will be everlasting as long as the sonnet exists and the references are to the “eternal” and “so long as”.The final couplet,although part of the sestet,could stand alone and provides a strong closing point.
Repetition(more lovely and more temperate) and anaphora(lines 6 and 7,lines 10-11,lines 13 and 14) are used heavily throughout the sonnet.These techniques are used for emphasis,to accentuate the point being made.Contrasts are emphasised by antithesis,”more temperate/rough winds “and the last word of lines 5 and 6 opposing ”shines “ with “dimmed” Alliteration,a linking device, is lightly used makes it more effective when it does appear, ”chance or nature’s changing course”,used at the end of octave.The next use is in the final line,”long lives this, and this gives life to thee”,where the double alliteration of the “l” and “t” force the line into prominence.
The poem begins with a rhetorical question to “thee” so it seems as though the poem is going to be about the young man.Personification occurs throughout the poem in the form of Summer.(“summer’s lease “),the sun (his gold complexion ),nature (nature’s changing course)and Death (“shall death brag”).Summer and Death are personified to suggest a human relationship:Death is a rival for the poet’s love.
Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
Thou art more louely and more temperate:
Rough windes do shake the darling buds of Maie,
And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,
And every faire from faire some-time declines,
By chance, or natures changing course untrim’d:
But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,
Nor loose possession of that faire thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wandr’st in his shade,
When in eternall lines to time thou grow’st,
So long as men can breath or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee,