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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
I read this over the course of a year. It was a year of pandemic, rolling waves of apprehension and loss. The necessary temerity was thus fleeting. I recall an especially heavy time. I failed these sonnets. I did appreciate the commendable commentary. Otherwise the endeavor would have been blithe loss, an errant clutch at respectability.
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
I read this over the course of a year. It was a year of pandemic, rolling waves of apprehension and loss. The necessary temerity was thus fleeting. I recall an especially heavy time. I failed these sonnets. I did appreciate the commendable commentary. Otherwise the endeavor would have been blithe loss, an errant clutch at respectability.
Whether you read books or not if you don't already know sonnet 18 you should and then learn some more.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really don’t like Folger, I much prefer Arden. Folger tends to overexplain certain words or points that really don’t need it, while whole passages can remain in the darkness. This was a gift, meaning I never would have bought it for myself.
I feel that I have so much still to learn from these sonnets. I intend to re-read them again in the future. I noticed a lot of the particularly piquant couplets and Shakespeare's beautiful repetition of words within a sonnet: a poetical device I particularly enjoy, especially when it puns on a word. The language is so surprisingly understandable, even 400 years later. Amazing.
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One star taken off for how freaky Sonnet 57 is. Other than that 10/10
Wow, I liked these more than I thought I would. It took me a while to get into them (see that I start listing favs at 30).
30 39 45 50 53 63 64 73 74 81 94 100 101 115 129 130 131 135 137 138 145
I choose this for a variety of reasons. Could have been because I understood the poem right away, related to it personally, or loved the language. Although it took me a long time to get through them all, I found myself reading and rereading many of the poems. I certainly would love to go deeper in to the sonnets and study them more thoroughly, but you see the list of works I’m going to read. I have a long way to go.
Sonnet 101 reminds me of Keats’s last two lines in ‘Ole to a Nightingale’: ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’” Keats loved Shakespeare, btw.
I found these sites very helpful in helping me understand these:
http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Shakespearesonnets (this one is awesome).
V
30 39 45 50 53 63 64 73 74 81 94 100 101 115 129 130 131 135 137 138 145
I choose this for a variety of reasons. Could have been because I understood the poem right away, related to it personally, or loved the language. Although it took me a long time to get through them all, I found myself reading and rereading many of the poems. I certainly would love to go deeper in to the sonnets and study them more thoroughly, but you see the list of works I’m going to read. I have a long way to go.
Sonnet 101 reminds me of Keats’s last two lines in ‘Ole to a Nightingale’: ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’” Keats loved Shakespeare, btw.
I found these sites very helpful in helping me understand these:
http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_sonnets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Shakespearesonnets (this one is awesome).
V
medium-paced
It’s a lot a sonnets. I am neutral toward many of them (though there are only a few that are truly dislikable) but then he sometimes hits that Banger moment. He has a couple that are just so incredibly romantic and I respect him for that.