Shakespeare s Sonnets

Transcription

1 Shkspr n Potry Whrs toy w think o Shkspr s in on o th worl s rtst plywriht who ws m immortl y plys lik Hmlt, Mth n Romo n Julit, in his litim it my hv n or his potry tht h ws onsir most hihly, s pots h ttr rputtion thn plywrihts. Most o his othr potry h n writtn or his sonnts ppr, n sms to hv n muh pprit: Vnus n Aonis (1593) Th Rp o Lur (1594) Th Phonix n Turtl (1601) Th History o th Sonnts Shkspr s 154 sonnts wr irst pulish tothr in Howvr, w know tht thy h n writtn som tim or, n proly ovr mny yrs. Th irst mntion o sonnts y Shkspr ws in 1598, whn nothr writr mntions Shkspr s sur sonnts mon his privt rins, whih inits tht his sonnts wr irultin in mnusript orm t th tim. In 1599 vrsions o Sonnts 138 n 144 ppr in n ntholoy, ut it ws only tn yrs ltr tht his sonnts wr print ltothr. Atr Shkspr s th, his sonnts wr lrly nlt. It ws only in 1639 tht nw ition ws pulish ut th pulishr hn muh in orr to ypss opyriht lws. In th 18th ntury thy wr rpulish mny tims, ut i not sm to inlun potry or writrs muh. It ws with th A o th Romntis tht Shkspr s sonnts inlly rin thir lost rputtion, s his viw o lov ws sn to rlt ontmporry viws. Th History o th Sonnt Th 14-lin pom ll th sonnt irst mr in 14th ntury Itly. It ws Ptrrh who m it his own. Its populrity slowly spr to Frn, Spin n Enln in th mi-16th ntury. Sir Thoms Wytt ( ) n Hnry Howr, Erl o Surry ( ) introu th sonnt to Enln. Thir sonnts ppr in print orm in 1557 n wr vry populr, in rprint mny tims up to Howvr, it ws th pulition o Sir Philip Siny s Astrophl n Stll tht m th sonnt orm xptionlly populr in Enln. Siny ( ) ws ourtir, solir n pot who npsult th mol o th Rnissn mn. His th t th Bttl o Zutphn ihtin with th Duth inst th Spnirs us muh mournin in Enln. Thror whn his sonnt yl ws pulish posthumously in 1589, it l to loo o sonnt yls throuhout th 1590s. Lik Siny s sonnt yl, ths wr mostly lov poms rss to ly. By th tim Shkspr s sonnts wr pulish th vou or lov sonnts h om to n n, whil rliious sonnts y uthors suh s John Donn ( ) wr omin mor shionl. John Milton ( ) ws th lst notl pot to tk th sonnt sriously or it ll out o shion. Its populrity ws rviv roun 1800 with Willim Worsworth ( ) n th Romntis. 1

2 Shkspr s Li in th Sonnts Du to th lk o knowl o Shkspr s li, popl hv otn turn to th sonnts in orr to look or lus out him, u to th mistkn li tht poms usully rvl th lovs n sirs o th pot. Th t tht Sonnt 145 sms to ontin pun on th nm Hthwy (Ann Hthwy ws his wi) implis tht som prt o th pot s li my in limps in th sonnts. Morovr, in Sonnt 136 thr is lr rrn to himsl: my nm is Will. Bsilly, thos involv in th sonnts r th pot, youn mn who is th sujt o th pot s tions, rk womn who th pot is in lov with, n nothr pot who is rivl or th youn mn s lov. Whthr this mns tht Shkspr h ml lovr, n ultrous ir, t. nnot onlu on wy or nothr. Th Sonnt Cyl Whil it is not possil to tll whn prtiulr sonnts wr writtn, nvrthlss thr is strutur to Shkspr s sonnt yl, s on i in sonnt otn trirs o n i in th nxt sonnt. This inits tht Shkspr himsl i on th orr. Thr r svrl misprints in th irst ition, whih sust tht Shkspr i not s th proos himsl. Th yl ws print in two mjor ivisions: Sonnts r nrlly sn s in rss to youn mn (lthouh mny o th poms oul hv n rss to womn, s nr nrlly plys littl or no rol). Sonnts r sn s in rss to rk ly. Hr som o thm rr to ml n ml lovr. On o th most intrstin turs o th sonnts is tht thy l with th ults n ptions o th lov on, n humn lliility in nrl. This is hihly unusul in sonnts. Rthr thn touhin on lvt mttrs, thy l with th rl worl o lov: physil sprtion n sir, jlousy, tryl, suss in lov, n th ltinnss o motionl tthmnt, uty n youth. Prhps it is this tht mks th sonnts o Shkspr mor ssil to morn uin, spit thir omplit thouht n lnu, thn othr sonnts o th Rnissn. Homorotiism On rson why Shkspr s sonnts wr otn nlt or inor ws u to th homoroti ntur o mny o th sonnts. In this spt hs m th sonnts iiult or mny to l with, s on must prsum tht th mous lin Shll I ompr th to summr s y? is si rom on mn to nothr, vn thouh in this prtiulr pom thr is no mntion o th nr o ithr th spkr nor th rss. Th qustion ws irst opnly rtiult in 1780, whn Gor Stvns, upon rin Shkspr s sription o youn mn s his mstr-mistrss rmrk, it is impossil to r this [pom], rss to ml ojt, without n qul mixtur o isust n inintion. Thr is mystrious ition t th innin o th 1609 ition, whrin rtin Mr. W. H. is mntion s th ttr o th poms y th pulishr Thoms Thorp, ut it is not known who this mn ws. I on prsums tht in Sonnt 136 Shkspr is plyin on his own irst nm n tht o th lov on, thn on n prsum tht th irst nm o th lov on ws lso Willim. 2

3 It hs otn n si tht th Sonnts r not rlly homoroti, ut tht thy l with th p pltoni rinship twn two mn. Howvr, lov poms wr vry rrly rss to nothr mn, n thos tht wr r mor roti thn pltoni. Nvrthlss, it woul wron to s th rltionship twn th pot n th youn mn in trms o homosxulity, isxulity or vn htrosxulity, sin thos trms r ll vry morn, n th rii istintion twn ml rinship, ml lov n ml sx i not xist in Shkspr s tim, vn i soomy ws outlw. It is worth rmmrin tht thy wr pulish t th tim o Jms I, who himsl ws nrlly onsir isxul n h unusully stron tthmnts to rtin mmrs o his ourt. Crtinly, unlik som o th sonnts in th stion nrlly thouht to rss th rk ly, thr r no rlly ovious physil mnisttions o sxul sir. Inst nr issus r onus, so th lov on is ompr to womn n his msulinity (spilly n or prortion) r lt with in n unusul mnnr. Th Form o Shkspr s Sonnts As it is unlikly tht rr will l to r ll 154 o Shkspr s sonnts, thr is no out tht mny o th intrstin thms n is tht run throuh th yl will lost to th sul rr. Inst o isovrin th troulsom rltionships twn pot, youn mn, rk womn n rivl pot, th rr o th iniviul sonnt is inst with prtiulr univrsl motion or prolm tht vn isolt rom th othr sonnts still n hv mnin n rlvn without th knowl o th story m within th yl. But in orr to pprit th iniviul sonnt, som knowl o how sonnts hiv thir t is nssry. Th volt In mny orms o rt thr is wht is ll oln rtio s on th numr rtio 1:1.6. In th Rnissn th oln rtio ws onsir to rlt ivin proportion hin in ntur, n thy otn us this rtio in struturin uilins n pintins. In potry, th sonnt oms losst to xprssin this rtio: in pom o 13 lins, th oln rtio woul ivision twn 8 n 5 lins. Althouh th sonnt hs 14 lins, tritionlly th i whih th sonnt is onrn with usully turns or hns or is ltr in som wy tr th 8th lin. This turn is ll th volt, n ivis th sonnt into n otv (th irst 8 lins, whih st up th i) n th sstt (whih hns or pts th i). Th sstt llows or th rhymin ouplt t th n, whih 5 lins oul not tr or. In rlir Enlish sonnts, this lr ivision twn 8 n 6 ws unrsor y th rhym shm. Shkspr, howvr, prrs rhym shm tht sms to rt thr qutrins n rhymin ouplt. From ln t th rhymin shm, thror, th volt woul not sm to ply rol in Shkspr s sonnts. Howvr, Shkspr otn hns irtions t th oln mn (i.. tr th 8th lin), s ours in othr sonnts. Atr svrl o his sonnts hv n r, it oms lr tht Shkspr s sonnts rly on lxi to provi th volt. 3

4 On o his vourit strtis is to ontrst whn n thn. Sonnt 12 is oo xmpl: Whn I o ount th lok tht tlls th tim, An s th rv y sunk in hious niht, Whn I hol th violt pst prim, An sl urls ll silvr o r with whit; Whn loty trs I s rrn o lvs, Whih rst rom ht i nopy th hr, An summr's rn ll ir up in shvs Born on th ir with whit n ristly r: Thn o thy uty o I qustion mk Tht thou mon th wsts o tim must o, Sin swts n utis o thmslvs orsk An i s st s thy s othrs row, An nothin inst Tim's syth n mk n Sv r to rv him, whn h tks th hn. volt In th irst 8 lins h sts up thsis whn I o somthin (this h rinors y th rptition o whn thr tims); inlly, tr ths sriptions, h onlus with th thn this is wht I o. This si strutur n osrv in mny o Shkspr s sonnts, n is unmntl to unrstnin how th sonnt strutur works. Howvr, s his rhymin shm onsists o qutrins, h is lso l to vry th strutur o his is. In Sonnt 30, h plys in with whn n thn, ut uss th qutrins to o so: Whn to th sssions o swt silnt thouht I summon up rmmrn o thins pst, I sih th lk o mny thin I souht, An with ol wos nw wil my r tim s wst; Thn n I rown n y (unus to low) For prious rins hi in th's tlss niht, An wp rsh lov s lon sin nll wo, An mon th xpns o mny vnish siht. Thn n I riv t rivns oron, An hvily rom wo to wo tll o r Th s ount o or-mon mon, Whih I nw py s i not pi or. But i th whil I think on th (r rin) All losss r rstor, n sorrows n. volt Hr Shkspr introus n i in th irst qutrin (mmory o thins pst), thn vlops it in th son n thir qutrins (h ls snss or thos who hv i; notil oth qutrins r introu y thn, ut ths r mrly tmporl itions) or rinin in th volt (i.. th hn) in th inl ouplt (h thinks o his lovr n li ls oo in). So Shkspr n us his rhymin shm to introu n vlop n i in th thr qutrins or introuin th volt in th inl ouplt. Otn Shkspr lls ttntion to th triprtit strutur o th qutrins y rptin wor t th innin o th qutrins (.. in Sonnt 49, th thr qutrins r introu y th phrs inst tht tim. This is stron lu tht th volt will om in th inl ouplt). 4

5 Th rhymin ouplt, vn whn it os not ontin th volt, nvrthlss lwys hs sns o onlusion out it, ithr s th volt or y rinorin th volt. This llows or th rr to sns th hrmony n ompltion o th sonnt. Th Mtr O ours, th sonnts lso riv thir mrit rom th mixtur o soun, rhythm n mtr, whih or non-ntiv r lss iiult to rsp. Virtully ll o th sonnts r ompos in imi pntmtrs: X / X / X / X / X whr X rprsnts th strss,.. Two lóvs I háv, o ómort án spáir. Th imi pntmtr ws us y Shkspr in most o his plys n is si to th losst vrs to Enlish sph. Howvr, h nvr us it slvishly, so th strss pttrns oul hn whn n. In Sonnt 145 h uss imi ttrmtrs (th only xmpl in his sonnt yl): X / X / X / X I you r th irst lins o Sonnts 144 n 145, you n t oo i o whih souns mor nturl: Two lovs I hv, o omort n spir, whih lik two spirits o sust m still; Th ttr nl is mn riht ir, Th worsr spirit womn olour ill Sonnt 144 Thos lips tht lov s own hn i mk Brth orth th soun tht si I ht To m tht lnuish or hr sk. But whn sh sw my woul stt Sonnt 145 Conlusion In summry, th ollowin points shoul onsir whn rin Shkspr s sonnts: th spkr. Avoi onusin th spkr o th pom with th pot Shkspr; thy my th sm ut w o not know. th i. Wht is th i o lov tht is in lt with in th sonnt? th volt. How os Shkspr ltr or hn th i h is lin with? At wht point in th sonnt os this our? th mtr: Wht mtr is in us? (This is usully sy to nswr, s in ll sonnts ut on h uss imi pntmtrs.) th rhymin shm. Wht rhymin shm hs n us? Dos this t th volt? th lnu. How os Shkspr us lnu to onvy th i? 5