Sonnet XV

Exercise 1 page 136

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True

 

Exercise 2 page 137

1. Stanza 1- when

Stanza 2-when

Stanza 1-the poet “I” considers everything grows

Stanza 2-the poet “I” perceives that men as plants increase

Stanza 1-everything

Stanza 2- men

1. The stars and the sky in the first stanza are natural elements, while men and plants grow up

 

Exercise 3 page 137

1. The linker is “then”, it ‘s used to continuing the poem
2. “you” is the most used pronoun in the third stanza
3. “sets you most rich in youth before my sight” underline that the Fair Youth is the most important thing to the Speaking Voice
4. The metaphor is “to change your day of youth of sullied”(line 12)

 

Exercise 4 page 137

In the name of love the poet fights against time; while passing time takes life away from his beloved, the poet gives him new poem through his youth.

 

Exercise 5page 137

1. Some elements that are personified stars and sky to exemplify his affermations.
2. Plants: to grow, plants, sap

Men: to grow, men, to increase

 

Exercise 6 page 137

Quatrain 1- ABAB

                 -When I consider everything that grows

Quatrain 2-ABAB

                 -When I perceive that men as plants increase

Quatrain 3- ABAB

               -Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Couplet-AA

           -And all in war with Time for love of you

 

 

 

Poem’s analysis

 

The sonnet hasn’t any specific title, but it has just a number near to the noun ”sonnet”, that is 15: it means that this poem belongs to a collection of poems, called marriage sonnets; a part of this collection is dedicated to the Fair Young and the other part is dedicated to the Dark Lady Sonnet, that was the parody of the medieval angel woman.

 

All this collection follows the Elizabethian model: the sonnets that belongs to this model are organized into three quatrains and a Iambic pentameter at the end, with alternating rhyme.

 

The sonnet begins with a poet’s thought about if he could consider everything that grows: indeed the stanza starts with the words ”when I consider everything grows”, then he continues with a sentence where the Speaking Voice tells that anything, as everyone know, doesn’t exist but the only perfect thing is a little moment comparing it to a little moment to during a play and the stars bright it. In this stanza the most important pronoun is “I” so the Speaking Voice put his self as the protagonist of this stanza.

The second stanza begins with a comparison of men with a plant that increase, who are cheered and checked by sky, who he defines as perfect using the adjective “selfsame”(that precisely means flawless).

The stanza continues with a parallelism between youth and a plant who is growing up and have a beautiful sap, but then people get older as the flower that get dry.

Like the first stanza, in this stanza the most used pronoun is ”I” so the Speaking Voice puts its self in the centre of the speech.

The third stanza begins with a description of old age and he invites the reader to live every moment in all its shapes both in the happy moments and sad moments, because old age arrives in less time we expected to.

In the iambic pentameter the Speaking Voice calls on the Fair Youth and he says that he continues to love him despite time passes and he gives him a new youth because he writes about him and in this way he can live forever because there will be always someone that continues to read about him.

 

The message of this sonnet is to enjoy life because everyone lives once and we couldn’t go back to relive life.