Songs versus Sonnets

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that both the poetic forms of songs and sonnets are common ways that individuals throughout the ages have expressed their thoughts and feelings, quite often but not exclusively about romantic love. While songs often have some form, such as a refrain, a repeating phrase or a melody, sonnets must adhere to a very specific structure. The author presents the history and construction of songs and sonnets. The paper relates that the fact that a song occurs during a play means that the audience likely wants to listen to something actively rather than take time to meditate on a few lines' meaning as they would for a sonnet.

From the Paper:

"In the second rhymed stanza, the poet thinks about how the sun shines too hot, dimming the gold complexion of the beloved. He is worried that chance or simply time can rob even a beloved of physical beauty. This is not merely a celebration of love, because the lover understands with foresight the transience of all love, all mortal existence, and realizes that earthly love is not for 'all time,' even though many songs celebrate the sensation that love will last forever. It is also abstract--the poet is not afraid simply that the beloved will leave him, but the fact that everything mortal fades and dies."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "How do I love thee?" Poets.org. 7 Oct 2007. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15384
• Hennequin, Wendy. "Building Blocks of Sonnets." University of Connecticut. Created 2000. 7 Oct 2007. http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~mwh95001/sonnets.html#Terms
• Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 18." Shakespeare Online 7 Oct 2007. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18.html
• Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." Full text. Shakespeare Homepage. 7 Oct 2007. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/twelfth_night/full.html

More papers on Songs versus Sonnets:

• Analytical Essay # 18824 : "John Donne's "The Anniversaries" and "Songs and Sonnets"
• Essay # 28071 : "Shakespeare's Sonnets 57 and 58"
• Essay # 89403 : "Shakespeare's Sonnets"

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