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Literature of the English Renaissance BA > William Shakespeare's Poetry Quotations > Flashcards

William Shakespeare's Poetry Quotations Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1

A

A sonnet where the speaker is an older person who talks to the young subject. The sonnet discusses Immortality, Time, Procreation and Selfishness. As the sonnet draws to a close, the young speaker rebuttals everything the older one has said.

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2
Q

What are the four themes in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1?

A

Immortality, Time, Procreation and Selfishness

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3
Q

What does Shakespeare say about a fairest creature in line one of sonnet 1?

A

‘From fairest creatures we desire increase,’

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4
Q

What does Shakespeare say about famine in Sonnet 1?

A

‘Making famine where abundance lies,’

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5
Q

What does Shakespeare say about gulttony in Sonnet 1?

A

‘And, tender churl mak’st waste in niggarding. / Pity the world, or else this glutton be, / To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.’

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6
Q

Summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18

A

This is one of Shakespeare’s most famous poems where he compares a boy to a summer’s day. The speaker continuously compares the boy to a summer;s day and states that even though the boy will eventually age, he will be immortalised in this sonnet.

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7
Q

What are the three themes that make up Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18?

A

Time, Love and Nature

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8
Q

How does Shakespeare open his Sonnet 18?

A

‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thous art more lovely and more temperate:’

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9
Q

What does Shakespeare say about Summer’s lease in Sonnet 18?

A

‘And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;’

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10
Q

What does Shakespeare say about summer fading in Sonnet 18?

A

‘But thy eternal summer shall not fade,’

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11
Q

What does Shakespeare say about seeing and breathing in Sonnet 18?

A

‘So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’

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12
Q

Summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29

A

In this sonnet the speaker discusses his ill-fated luck and how his cries have gone unheard. This sentiment runs throughout the first twelve lines of the sonnet. The volta comes just before the rhyming couplet and the speaker states that he still has love to fall back on.

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13
Q

What are the themes that make up Sonnet 29?

A

Love, Hope vs. Hopelessness and Fate

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14
Q

What does Shakespeare say about fortune in Sonnet 29?

A

‘When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes,’

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15
Q

What does Shakespeare say about cursed fate in Sonnet 29?

A

‘And look upon myself and curse my fate,’

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16
Q

What is said about despising in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29?

A

‘Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, / Haply I think on thee, and then my state’

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17
Q

What is said in lines 11-12 of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 about heaven’s gate?

A

‘…From sullen earth […] sings hymns at heaven’s gate;’

18
Q

What is the synopsis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 80?

A

The speaker acknowledges that his rival is the greater poet. The speaker does this through the use of metaphor and maritime imagery.

19
Q

What are the three themes that make up Sonnet 80?

A

Maritime Imagery, Metaphysical Poetry elements and Sonnet elements

20
Q

How does Shakespeare’s Sonnet 80 open?

A

‘O, how I faint when I of you do write, / Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,’

21
Q

What does Shakespeare say about being tongue-tied in Sonnet 80?

A

‘To make me tongue-tied, speaking of your fame!’

22
Q

What does Shakespeare say about being a boat and being wrecked in Sonnet 80?

A

‘Or, being wrecked, I am a worthless boat,’

23
Q

What does Shakespeare say in the concluding lines of Sonnet 80 about being cast away?

A

‘Then if he thrive and I be cast away, / The worst was this: my love was my decay.’

24
Q

Quickly summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116

A

The speaker discusses the unwavering nature of love, but also argues that love is not always constant; that in some circumstances and people, it may change. However, love never dies, even when people seek to destroy it.

25
Q

What are the two themes that are prevalent in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116?

A

Love and Nautical/ Maritime Imagery

26
Q

What does Shakespeare say about Love and Time in Sonnet 116?

A

‘Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks’

27
Q

What does Shakespeare say about love altering in Sonnet 116?

A

‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, / But bears it out even to the edge of doom.’

28
Q

What does Shakespeare say about error in Sonnet 116?

A

‘If this be error and upon me proved, / I never writ, nor no man ever loved,’

29
Q

What are the three themes that make up Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129?

A

Hedonism, Eroticism and Lust, Religion and Sonnet and Dramatic Monologue elements

30
Q

Summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129

A

The speaker discusses eroticism, hedonism and lust and explains the affects it has, not only on mankind, but also on man’s relationship with God. The concluding rhyming couplets add a religious element to the sonnet.

31
Q

How does Shakespeare say the spirit is wasted in Sonnet 129?

A

‘Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame / Is lust in action, and till action, lust’

32
Q

What does Shakespeare say about perjury in Sonnet 129?

A

‘Is perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame,’

33
Q

How does lust make a person mad in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129?

A

‘On purpose laid to make the taker mad: / Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;’

34
Q

How does Shakespeare express that lust will lead men to hell in the concluding lines of Sonnet 129?

A

‘To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.’

35
Q

What are the four themes that make up Sonnet 130?

A

Love and Beauty, Nature, Sonnet elements and Anti-Petrarchan elements and Hyperbole, Satire…etc.

36
Q

Summarise Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

A

The speaker challenges traditional ideas of beauty, e.g. blonde hair, snowy skin…etc. Showing that an individual does not have to have conventional physical attributes associated with beauty to be beautiful. Additionally, the speaker highlights the absurdity of likening human beauty to nature/ the natural world, as the natural world will always be unmatched.

37
Q

How does Shakespeare compare his lover’s eyes to the sun and her lips to coral?

A

‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; / Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;’

38
Q

What does Shakespeare say about roses in Sonnet 130?

A

‘I have seen roses damasked, red and white,’

39
Q

What does Shakespeare say about his lover’s voice in Sonnet 130?

A

‘I love to hear her speak, yet well I know / That music hath a far more pleasing sound;’

40
Q

How does Shakespeare conclude Sonnet 130?

A

‘And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she believed with false compare.’

41
Q

What are the seven Shakespeare sonnets that you’ll be studying?

A

Sonnet 1, 18, 29, 80, 116, 129 and 130.

Literature of the English Renaissance BA (11 decks)

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