SONNET 39 by Mardhiah Fadzi

SONNET 39 by William Shakespeare

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 11:30:03 UTC

Mardhiah Azmir

SONNET 39	PARAPHRASE
O, how thy worth with manners may I sing,	O, how can I praise your worth with modesty,
When thou art all the better part of me?	When you are my better-half?
What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?	What good is praise offered by myself to myself?
And what is 't but mine own when I praise thee?	And what is it but praise for myself when I praise you?
Even for this let us divided live,	Let us then live divided,
And our dear love lose name of single one,	And let people no longer refer to us as being one in the same,
That by this separation I may give	That this by separation I may give you
That due to thee which thou deservest alone.	That due which you alone deserve.
O absence, what a torment wouldst thou prove,	O what a torment your absence would be,
Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave	If you absence did not allow me
To entertain the time with thoughts of love,	To turn my thoughts to love,
Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive,	Those thoughts, which deceive time and my other sad thoughts,
And that thou teachest how to make one twain,	Those thoughts that show me how to make us two again become one,
By praising him here who doth hence remain!	By praising him here who is in fact absent.

Summary

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 15:15:12 UTC

This sonnet talks about the need of separation between him and his lover. In the first 8 lines, the poet agrees with the idea of separation wholeheartedly. His reasoning is that while the two men are together, their love makes them as one, and thus in praising the fair lord the poet seems to heap praise upon himself. That is useless and impolite (impossible to do "with manners"), so the separation is a good idea since it will leave him free to praise the fair lord as much as he deserves.

But in the second half of the sonnet, the poet is struck by the gravity of separation, and grapples with the idea of filling his time alone. Line 9 begins with an address to "absence," personifying the idea; this addressee is referred to again in line 13, "And that thou teachest how to make one twain," with "thou" being the idea of absence, which makes one person into a pair of people. But the word "twain" also means "separated," so the distance is alluded to even in this hopeful line.

Themes

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 15:16:08 UTC

1) The beauty of separation

"That by this separation I may give / That due to thee which thou deserv'st alone."

The poet gives in on the idea of separation. Thinking that through separation, perhaps both parties are able to admire and cherish one another. Also, as the youth is the "better part" of the poet, the two remain united through the poet's imagination,even when both are physically separated from one another.

2) The concept of time and space.

"O absence, what a torment wouldst thou prove,

"Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leave"

At first, the poet is convince on the idea of separation will bring good to their relationship but starts to shiver with the thought of having to spend his time and roaming around in his space without the company of his better half.

Tone and Mood

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 15:17:14 UTC

Persona's tone is affectionate and believing on the idea of separation between him and his lover.

The mood felt when readers read this poem is hopeful and melancholic .

Structure

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 15:17:57 UTC

Sonnet 39, in iambic pentameter, has three quatrains and an ending couplet. The structure is what came to be called the Shakespearean, or English, sonnet form. The rhyme scheme is ababababcdcdee.

Comments

venular_lover — 2015-03-15 15:19:24 UTC

Sonnet 39 is not only beautifully written by Shakespeare but it also brings meaning to the readers especially in me. The things that I adore about the poem is that the theme of the poem is separation and what it can do to most people. We, as human beings are fixated on the idea that everyone has and should be having their own significant other and that we might be dysfunctional without the other party. However, in this poem, the idea is being challenged. The persona claims that the absence of one another will only make connection of their love becomes stronger. It makes me think that if love is strong and powerful, it should be destructible even with the absence of each other's company. From this poem, I understand that sometimes, we can only grow when we are alone and we can only appreciate things when we no longer have them.