Shakespeare's "First Sonnet"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Shakespeare's "First Sonnet" and in particular shows how the connotations behind the words to people living in Elizabethan England makes Shakespeare choice of imagery start to take on a far deeper meaning. It examines Shakespeare's ties to the land since from the first line to the fourteenth, Shakespeare infuses the poem with meaning with the use of agricultural terminology that everyone in his day would have been familiar with and how by employing the farming metaphors and the references to spring and to the harvest, he can't help but remind the Elizabethan reader of the march of time.

From the Paper:

"While we know that fairest often refers to beauty even though it is antiquated, it would have been quite natural for that era's farmers in their effort at selective breeding to encourage and even expect that the fairest of their creatures would breed. It was paramount to their success for their best horses to foal, their sturdiest cattle to multiply. In that sense, the best and the beautiful have an obligation to mate and pass their genes on to their heirs, and so too, according to Shakespeare, did a young man have that responsibility as well."

More papers on Shakespeare's "First Sonnet":

• Analytical Essay # 132838 : "Shakespeare's "Sonnet Number 35" - An Analysis"
• Poem Review # 102657 : "Shakespeare on Love"
• Analytical Essay # 30061 : "Shakespeare: Sonnet 1"

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