Short summary "Sonnet 2" by William Shakespeare

-

 

 Sonnet 2 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a procreation sonnet within the Fair Youth sequence.

‘When forty winters shall besiege thy brow’ by William Shakespeare addresses the need to have children as a way of guaranteeing one’s legacy and beauty.

The speaker addresses the Fair Youth, informing him that in short order he’s going to lose his beauty and his face is going to look like a plowed field. Once this happens he’ll be ashamed and unable to maintain his reputation. The only remedy for this is if the young man has a child to whom he can bestow his beauty. Then, he will have a valid excuse for his wrinkles. Plus, it will be as though he is himself reborn.

This poem is the second of Shakespeare’s procreation sonnets. Continuing where Sonnet 1 left off, the speaker continues to make an attempt to convince the young man to reproduce. The transience of beauty and the continuation of blood are important themes in this sonnet too.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 2 deals with the transience of youth and beauty at the individual level. The speaker invokes a young man to procreate before it is too late in order to pass on his beauty to the next generation.

 

Just like Shakespeare’s sonnet 1, his sonnet 2 is also a procreation sonnet in the ‘Fair Youth’ sequence. It deals, once again, with the transience of human beauty and how that transient thing can become permanent through the continuity of the species. Just like sonnet 1, this sonnet disrupts the concept of erotic courtship common to sonnets at that time. In this sonnet, the speaker continues to implore the beautiful young man to overcome his self-obsession to lead a life in isolation and procreate.

This sonnet continues in the same vein as sonnet 1, with the speaker trying to implore the young man to procreate. But there is a slight difference in the speaker’s arguments this time. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 2, the speaker asks the young man to imagine a time in the future when he would be old (‘forty winters’).

 He tells him that due to the passage of time, his beauty will be lost – his face would be lined and wrinkled, and his eyes would be sunken. People would wonder where all his beauty went away.  If he would have offspring, then in such situations, he would be able to point towards his child to show the continuation of his beauty and youth. The man would himself feel invigorated in his older days by seeing his own beauty and youth before his eyes.

In this poem, the speaker tries to paint images of future situations. And in the process, he tries to explain to the young man how time will take a toll on his beauty. The speaker then tells the young man how an offspring can help him to pass on his beauty to future generations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boy Who Broke The Bank by Ruskin Bond

-
Image
The Boy Who Broke The Bank by Ruskin Bond Text of the Story  Nathu grumbled to himself as he swept the steps of the Pipalnagar Bank, owned by Seth Govind Ram. He used the small broom hurriedly and carelessly, and the dust, after rising in a cloud above his head settled down again on the steps.  As Nathu was banging his pan against a dustbin, Sitaram, the washerman’s son, passed by. Sitaram was on his delivery round. He had a bundle of freshly pressed clothes balanced on his head. ‘Don’t raise such dust!’ he called out to Nathu. ‘Are you annoyed because they are still refusing to pay you an extra two rupees a month?’ ‘I don’t wish to talk about it,’ complained the sweeper-boy. ‘I haven’t even received my regular pay.  And this is the twentieth of the month. Who would think a bank would hold up a poor man’s salary? As soon as I get my money, I’m off! Not another week I work in this place.’ And Nathu banged the pan against the dustbin several times, just to emphasize hi...
Read more

"Telephone Conversation" by Wole Soyinka

-
Image
  "Telephone Conversation"                                                                   Wole Soyinka   The price seemed reasonable, location Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived Off premises. Nothing remained But self-confession. "Madam," I warned, "I hate a wasted journey--I am African." Silence. Silenced transmission of Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came, Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was foully. "HOW DARK?" . . . I had not misheard . . . "ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" Button B, Button A. *  Stench Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak. Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered Omnibus squelching tar. It  was  real! Shamed By ill-mannered silence, surrender Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification. Considerate she was, varying t...
Read more

Group discussion : types, merits and demerits.

-
 Group discussion is when a group of people comes together to discuss a certain topic that involves  sharing ideas or activities. Group Discussion is a combination of two words 'Group' and 'Discussion.'  Group A group means many people are working together to achieve some targets. The performance of a group depends on the collaborative work of the individuals. The team of three or more than three people is considered as a group. Discussion Discussion means exchanging ideas between two or more than two people, which is generally a face-to-face interaction. It is a process of talking between people to reach a specific decision. It is also defined as a conversation about a specific topic. The result or end product of group discussion can be a particular decision, enhanced knowledge, actions, an argument, doubt-clearing, disagreement, etc. Types of Group discussions are:  Factual Group Discussions Opinion-Based Group Discussion Group conversations based on case studies A...
Read more