The Sonnet and Perspective

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that "Sonnet 55" has the form of most of Shakespeare's sonnets with fourteen lines, ten syllables per line in iambic pentameter and has an ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG rhyme scheme. The author points out that Rossetti's "In an Artist's Studio" qualifies as a sonnet because it has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter; however, its rhyme scheme does not fit the Shakespearean, Italian or Spenserian styles. The paper relates that Rossetti's sonnet takes an entirely different perspective from Shakespeare's in that Rossetti writes from the point of view of a third, objective party. The author concludes that "Sonnet 55" is the more straightforward of the two sonnets with its obvious form and simple content.

From the Paper:

"What makes Sonnet 55 so notable - and memorable - is not just its claims that it will give its subject immortality, although such a claim may almost seem like an intriguing self-fulfilling prophecy. Because Shakespeare was also a playwright and because printed manuscripts were not as common in his era as they are currently, it was of some importance that poems be easily memorized. The rhyme and the iambic pentameter of the sonnet form allow it to be quite easily remembered and recited. Its cadence seems to demand that it be read aloud."

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