By Dr Oliver Tearle
‘When I do count the clock that tells the time’: so begins one of the more famous ‘Procreation Sonnets’, the suite of 17 sonnets that begin Shakespeare’s cycle of poems to the Fair Youth.
Shakespeare
A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 11: ‘As fast as thou shalt wane’
A reading of a Shakespeare sonnet
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 11, beginning ‘As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st’, is another ‘Procreation Sonnet’, in which the Bard urges the Fair Youth to marry and have children. Below, we sketch out a brief analysis of Sonnet 11 in terms of its overall meaning, its language, and its themes.
As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st
In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow’st,
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest.
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
If all were minded so, the times should cease
And threescore year would make the world away.
A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 10: ‘For shame deny’
A reading of a Shakespeare sonnet
‘For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any’: so begins Sonnet 10 in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. This sonnet represents a minor turning point in the sequence, since Shakespeare’s admiration of the Fair Youth and his beauty becomes personal, rather than merely being couched in terms of general praise. Here is Sonnet 10, and some notes towards an analysis of its meaning and language.
For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any,
Who for thy self art so unprovident.
Grant, if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many,
But that thou none lov’st is most evident:
For thou art so possessed with murderous hate,
That ‘gainst thy self thou stick’st not to conspire,
Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate
Which to repair should be thy chief desire.
A Short Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 9: ‘Is it for fear’
A critical reading of a Shakespeare sonnet
We continue our exploration of William Shakespeare’s sonnets with a brief analysis of Sonnet 9, yet another ‘Procreation Sonnet’ in which the Bard endeavours to find new ways of persuading the Fair Youth to marry and have children. ‘Is it for fear to wet a widow’s eye’ is not a well-known sonnet, so a brief summary and paraphrase of the meaning of Sonnet 9 may be helpful, along with a bit of close analysis.
Is it for fear to wet a widow’s eye,
That thou consumest thy self in single life?
Ah! if thou issueless shalt hap to die,
The world will wail thee like a makeless wife;
The world will be thy widow and still weep
That thou no form of thee hast left behind,
When every private widow well may keep
By children’s eyes, her husband’s shape in mind:
A Very Short Biography of Anne Locke
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Anne Locke (c. 1530-c. 1590) is not a well-known figure in the annals of English poetry, yet she has an important and interesting – not to mention little-known – claim to literary fame, so her biography is worth dwelling on. As we discuss in our new book about obscure and forgotten books, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History