How did Shakespeare try to immortalize his Friend W.H.?

Like as the Waves 

In most of the sonnets, Shakespeare referred to his friend a Mr. W.H. though his friend’s Identity is not cleared anywhere that whoever he may be. He might be Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, or Sir Philipp Sydney’s nephew, William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke.

Shakespeare is talking about the same friend W.H. in Like as The Waves. In the sonnet, the poet is saying that his verse in praise of his friend will make him, immortal despite the cruel hands of time. This poem seems inspired by Golding’s translation of Ovid’s 

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

The very first opening line of the sonnet is introduced with the applied figure of speech simile. Where the poet compares the lives with the waves that come out of from the bottom of the sea and end at the shore.

So do our minutes hasten to their end;

In the second line, the poet said in his positive agreement format that the same way our lives within time continue and end. 

Each changing place with that, which goes before,

He says that nothing has a permanent place in this universe a thing comes and another takes its place after some time. 

In sequent toil, all forwards do contend.

A person in his life span works so hard to achieve the things that he desired all his life and he is feeling satisfied.

Nativity, once in the main of light,

The word nativity refers here to the birth when someone bore and become aware of his life.   

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d,

A person in his life after birth slowly grows, learns, achieves, and sometimes fails. Sometimes times award him with achievements.

Crooked elipses ’gainst his glory fight,

Time has its own way to perform its duty. The poet says that some bad planets with bad effects can hard and destroy a person‘s life. He has to face various obstacles during his lifetime.

And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.

A time comes in everyone’s life when he feels confused himself. Nobody can understand the ways of life and the way time plays a role in our lives.

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth

It was time itself that gave us youth and now the time is taking it back. Time is always a continuous process that never stops and never ends.

And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,

At a time the beauty of youth goes away and we become old and ugly with wrinkle everywhere on face same like earth looks when we delve it with plow. 

Rhyme Scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg 

The contribution of female poets of Romantic Age

Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821) 

English novelist, actor, and playwright, Elizabeth Inchbald was born in a small village called Standing field near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England in 1753. She was the eighth child of John Simpson, a farmer, and his wife Mary. Inchbald’s father dies early living the family to the care of her mother. Inchbald went to London in 1772 to seek her fortune on the stage. She struggled to find work because of her speech impediment. She married actor Joseph Inchbald in June 1772 and began working seriously as an actor. She made her first dramatic appearance on 4th September 1772, as the character Cordelia opposite her husband‘s King Lear in Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Plays

• Mogul Tale or the Descent of the Balloon (1784)
• Appearance is against them (1785)
• I’ll Tell You What 1785
• The Widow’s Vow 1786

Novels 

• A simple Story (1791)
• Nature and Art (1796)

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

British Feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft was born In Spatial fields, London in 1759. Her Father Edward John Wollstonecraft was a tyrannical husband, who bullied his wife, Elizabeth Dixon, into a state of servitude. A weaver by profession, her father left his work, mismanaged his share of family inheritance, and engaged in futile attempts to become a gentleperson. After her mother’s death, Wollstonecraft left home in search of her own livelihood.

Works

• Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787)
• Original Stories from Real Life (1788)
• Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
• Mary A Fiction (1788)

Mary Wollstonecraft‘s Vindication of the rights of women published in 1792 is considered as one of the earliest texts of Western Feminism. It is partly structured as a response to several works on women education and female conduct written by men during the latter half of the 18^th century, among the most significant of these was Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile or On Educations. She states that since childhood, women are taught to believe that they are inferior to men. They are taught to be docile and submissive, Characteristics such as meekness and self–sacrifice are included as feminine virtues, which lead to the subjugation of women.

Mary Hays (1759- 1843)

English novelist and feminist, Mary was born in Southward, Near London. She was born into a Baptist family to John and Elizabeth Hays. She lost her father when she was very young.

Works

• Cursory Remarks on an Enquiry into the expediency and propriety of public worship 1792
• Memoires of Emma Courtney (1792)
• Appeal to Men of Great Britain In Behalf Of Women (1796)

Fanny Burney

English novelist and diarist Fanny was born as Frances Burney in King’s: Lynn, Norfolk, England in 1752. She was the daughter of Dr. Charles Burney, a musical historian and Estate Sleepe, her mother died, when she was only 9. Her father later married Elizabeth Allen, The wealthy widow of King’s Lynn wine merchant, who proved to be an overbearing stepmother. She was a writer, composing odes, plays, songs, farces, and poems at an early age.

Novels 

• The History of Caroline Evelyn (1767)
• Evelina: Or The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778)
• Cecilia: Or, Memoires of an Heiress (1782)  

Non-fiction

• Brief reflections relative to the French Emigrants Clergy (1793)
• Memoires of Doctor Burney (1832)

Plays 

• The Witlings (1779)
• Edwy and Elgiva, (1790)
• Love and Fashion 1799
• The Woman Hater 1800-1801

Maria Edgeworth 1768 -1849

Anglo –Irish novelist Maria was born in Blackbourtan, Oxford shire, England in 1768. She was the second child of Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Anna Maria. Her father was a writer, scientist, inventor, and educationist, who married four times and had twenty-four children.

Works

• Letters for Literary Ladies (1795)
• Castle Rack-rent (1800)
• Belinda (1801)
• Leonora (1806)
• Patronage (1814)
• Harrington (1817)

Jane Austin 1775 -1817

English novelist was born at St Stevenson Rectory in Hampshire, England in 1775; she was the seventh child of reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh.

Works

• Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mansfield Park (1814)
• Emma (1815)

 

Shakespeare’s plays are not gardens but a jungle.

William Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. He wrote most of his plays as ‘quarto texts’. A few of his plays were printed in his lifetime, though they appeared more voluminously after his death. His first collection of works as printed in 1623. We can say Shakespeare’s plays are not gardens but jungle in many senses such as in a variety of genres and themes and characters.

Romantic Comedies

His most comedies are the romantic type. The main theme of his comedies is love. In his comedies, a lover usually experiences a set of obstacles before they united. All conflicts get resolved at the end. His romantic comedies are all set in an imaginative world far away from the dull and dreary world of everyday life. There is a cardinal characteristic of Shakespeare’s romantic world of the union of realism, fantasy, and philosophy.” With humor, Shakespeare deals with serious issues.   

•     All’s  Well That Ends Well
•     The Comedy Of Errors
•     Love’s Labour Lost
•     The Merchant Of Venice  
•     The Merry Wives Of Windsor

Tragedies

Shakespearean tragedy is primarily concerned with one person the tragic hero. A tragic hero is a person of the high social estate, raised above the rest. He undergoes suffering because of his tragic flaw or the error of judgment.

•     Romeo and Juliet
•     King Lear
•     Othello
•     Macbeth
•     Hamlet
•     Cymbeline

Roman plays

All these plays are set in Rome deal with similar subjects and make use of the same source- North’s translation of Plutarch’s lives. Dominika Klenova states that Shakespeare uses his source material as a framework, which helps him develop his own conception of treating drama out of biography. He also develops his idea of the Roman character and elaborates on him at both the ‘national ‘and individual level.

•     Julius Caesar
•     Antony and Cleopatra
•     Coriolanus

Problem plays

While most of his plays fall into the above-cited categories of tragedies, comedies, or histories, there are some plays of Shakespeare do not neatly fit into any of these categories.

•     All is well that ends well
•     Measure for measures
•     Troilus and Cressida

Historical plays

According to Michael Hattaway, Shakespeare’s history plays are related to history mainly by offering representations of historical figures and the creation of theater out of historical events. Shakespeare’s primary source for his history plays was Raphael Holinshed Chronicle of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

•     Richard II
•     Richard III
•     Henry IV
•     Henry V

Did Shakespeare commit mistakes in his use of English ?

 It will be our mistake if we say that Shakespeare committed mistakes in his use of English. 

Difference between Shakespeare's English and Modern English.

Language must have changed in the course of a long time. Elizabethan English shows the style of old English. I.E. inflected English had case-ending for the nouns, terminations for the verbs, and the like. by the end of the 16th century, most of these inflections had ended, though some remained as it is, and the influence of the earlier inflected stage still affected the language. often when we interrogate into the history of some Elizabethan idioms which seem to us curious we find that it is a relic of an old usage.

there are numerous cases in the poet's works where a verb in the present tense has the inflection- s, though the subject is plural: cf the following lines in Richard II,

"These high wild hills and rough uneven ways

Draws out our miles, and makes them wearisome."

The verb 'draws' and 'makes' appear to be singular: but probably each is plural, in agreement with its plural antecedents hills and ways: s-es being the plural inflections of the present tense used in the Northan dialect of old English. In the southern dialect, the inflection was eth: in the midland en. when Shakespeare was born all three forms were getting obsolete: but all three are found in his works, eth, and en very rarely, es or s many times. 

A dramatist makes his character lively, and tells his story through their mouth: he is not like a historian who writes the story in his own words. the English of a play which meant to be spoken must not be judged by the same standard as English of a History which is meant to be read. for considering how much more correct and more regular in style. in speaking, we begin a sentence one way and we finish it another, some fresh idea striking us or some interruption occurring. speech is liable to change constantly as swiftly turns the thoughts. 

   

Edmund Spenser was patronized by-

By whom Edmund Spenser was patronized? 

Edmund Spenser contributed 1568 a number of Visions and Sonnets from (Petrarch and Du Bellay) to an edifying Theatre for Wordings'. Spenser obtained in 1578, through his college friend G. Harvey, a place in Leicester's household, and become acquainted with Sir Philip Sidney. With Sidney, Dyer, and others, formed a literary club styled 'Areopagus'. In 1579 he began the 'Faerie Queene' and published his 'Shepherd's Calendar'. In 1580, he was appointed secretary to Lord Grey De Wilton, then going to Ireland as lord deputy, and acquired Kilcolman Castle in county Cork. Here he settled and occupied himself with literary artwork, writing his elegy ' Astrphel or Sir Philip Sidney and preparing the Faerie Queene for the press, three books of this work being entrusted to the printer on the poet's visit to London in 1589. He returned to Kilcolman and penned ‘Colin Clouts Come Home Againe’ printed 1595. The success of the Faerie Queene led the printer, Ponsonby to issue in 1591 his minor Verses and Juvenilia, in part, rewritten, as ‘Complaints’.

Changes In English language in Historical Events 1

Changes that occurred in English Language after Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest changed the whole course of English language. French became the language of social prestige and status. French words entered the English lexicon. More than 10000 French words found their way into English words associated with government, law, art, literature, food, and many other aspects of life.

English language gradually disappeared as a written language, which resulted in the removal of borders on development of language; grammar became simplified as people started finding the simplest way to talk with people, who did not speak English as their first language.

 The pronunciation of English changed to some extent under the influence of French, as did the spelling. E.g. the old English ‘cw’, ‘sc’ and ‘c’ became ‘qu’, ‘sh’ and ‘ch’. The spelling of cwen changed into queen, scip to ship and scolde to should, English grammar took on  a few French structures , such as putting in adjectives after nouns in some expressions – attorney general, secretary general, surgeon general, . Since, Englishmen became desirous of learning the language of the ruling class, a large number of them learned French or Latin.

However, the Normans conquers on the other hand, had to learn English and translate it into Latin, since there was the need to understand English law , as a result , this period  saw an upsurge in the translations of English Material n to Latin.

DEATH BE NOT PROUD - A bright example of metaphysical poetry by John Donne.

About

This poem a great example of argument with an abstract form, which is known as personification that is death in this poem. It appeared in the collection “Holly Sonnets”

Text

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

 

Simplified Explanation

In this sonnet, Poet is asking to death a question. In very first line of the poem we get to know that poet has used capital letter for the word “Death” which means death has been personified here as a living person. Therefore, it is now possible to talk with death. So he asks death why does she proud on her. Of course, we find in living word some call her mighty some name her powerful. In addition, it is true that she is inevitable. Nevertheless, poet does not take her as powerful and mighty. Moreover, he says to death if you think that, you have killed so many of us are not killed. Poet says Death that she cannot kill him. Here he refers her as poor and he is demeaning death in this line. Poet compares death to rest and sleep. He thinks death is nothing more than a sleep or a state of rest. He says to Death you are much more pleasure some for people than sleep. When you kill someone there remains only bones and soul reaches some another place as soon as someone dies. This idea of the poet resembles something like that have been described in Hindu philosophy in The Bhagwad Geeta that soul is immortal only body dies. No one living or nonliving can harm soul. Soul delivers immediately acquires a new body. 

Poet again humiliates death. He says you are a slave to fate, kings, and chances. As in real life, we find that death comes through many kinds of excuses sometimes in the form of murder by goons; accident, sometimes and punishment by kings or judiciary, sometimes in face of disease or pandemic in some cases humans intentionally choose death as an excuse of escape from worldly matters by the means of suicide. 

As we have seen in earlier lines poet compares death to sleep or rest. In a life, many persons consume narcotic drugs, wines, and herbs such as opium; Poet says that their effects are more powerful to sleep someone than death. Poet scorns Death why she feels pride on her. 

In concluding couplet poet has said that whenever someone dies he does not die but dies the Death itself. Because soon after the moment we become a soul and soul is immortal. So here, poet says to Death that you die; we do not when you come to us. 

 

Francis Bacon – English statesman and philosopher; precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626) .

Francis Bacon

Brief Bios

Francis was born on January 22, 1561 in London. His father Sir Nicholas Bacon was a lord Keeper of great Seal and mother as the daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke. In the age of 13, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. On June 27, 1576, he was admitted to Gray’s Inn. Bacon’s stay in Paris also gave him an opportunity to acquire a high degree of proficiency in the French language. His father died in 1579. 

The first edition of Bacon’s “Essay” was published in 1597 He managed to obtain Knighthood July 1603. In 1604, he was confirmed-learned counsel. In the autumn of 1605, he published his Advancement of Learning. In the summer of 1606, he got married to Alice Barnham. In June 1607, he obtained legal office and became solicitor General. In 1607, he wrote “Cogitata et Visa”. In 1608, he wrote "In Felicem memoriam Elizabethae". In 1609 appeared the Wisdom of the Ancients. New editions of Essays were published in 1607 and 1612. In March 1617, bacon was appointed Lord Keeper .In October 1620 he published the Novum Organum. In 1621, he was created Viscount St. Albans. 

In March 1626, driving one day near Highgate and deciding on impulse to discover whether snow would delay the process of putrefaction, he stopped his carriage, purchased a hen, and with his own hands stuffed it with snow. As a result, he was caught a chill and was taken to house of the Earl of Arundel, where on April 19, 1626 he died of bronchitis.

This the way Shakespeare recalls his best Friend.

Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought

William Shakespeare

Poem Text

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,a

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

And moan th' expense of many a vanish'd sight;

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

Introduction

This is a sonnet number 30 penned by William Shakespeare. The poem is a remembrance in which the poet is offering like an obituary to his friend named ‘W.H.’ who has recently passed. This is one of the best examples of Shakespearean sonnets. The first three quatrains are arising problems and in the last couplet is giving solution.     

Quatrain 1 - Rhyme Scheme - ABAB

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:

Explanation

When to the sessions this phrase refers the time when the poet remembers his past friend who has gone beyond the reach of time means have died. There also arises the memories of things that have lost somewhere in the past or the things which the poet could not achieve in his life. He feels pain for many things, which he wanted to own but could not due to any reason. Moreover, these old memories waste his time when he wants to pay his time to his dear friend.   

Quatrain 2 - Rhyme Scheme - CDCD

Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,a

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

And moan th' expense of many a vanish'd sight;

Explanation

Here in this second quatrain, the poet expresses his grief over the long-lost friends. Unintentionally his eyes wet. He has lost many precious friends in dateless night literally, which means death from which nobody comes back. 

Quatrain 3 - Rhyme Scheme - EFEF

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

Explanation

Then poet feels agony in his heart he grieves like never before over the things he has already grieved. One by one all the stories come into his mind. He felt as if he had never grieved before like this time. 

Couplet - Rhyme Scheme - GG

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

 

Explanation:

In this couplet, the poet overcomes his grief when he recalls his dear friend. He thinks that whenever he remembers his friends all his thoughts of the past forgone. According to him, God has consoled him by giving him memories of so loving friends. All the things restored refer that memories of his dear makes him rather bear all the problems. 

Iambic Pentameter

A poetic meter consisting of a line with five feet in each of which the iamb is dominant. Pentameter is a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.