English English poetry assignment pt 2

 Sonnet 29 poem

1. Read up (again) on William Shakespeare, his dates. Refresh your memory of sonnets. 

2. In other words, you should copy and paste the poem from Poetry Foundation:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45090/sonnet-29-when-in-disgrace-with-
fortune-and-mens-eyes

3. Chart a rhyme scheme to determine if this is a Shakespearean (hahaha) sonnet or a
Petrarchan sonnet…or even a Spencerian sonnet!

4. Count syllables in all lines. Don’t rush! You are looking for discrepancies, and trust me,
there are a few lines that break the traditional syllable count for a sonnet. Find them andscan them. Find the “problem word or words” in each line. Speculate why Shakespeare
would be willing to disrupt the rhythm for these words.

5. Look for lines that break with iambic pentameter, the required meter for a sonnet. Think
back to “If We Must Die.” Recall that McKay breaks with iambic pentameter at the
opening of three lines. Does Shakespeare do anything of that kind? To what effect?

6. Shakespeare repeats the word “like” three times in the second quatrain. What is the
effect of his doing this?

7. Shakespeare repeats the word “state” three times in the poem, and its meaning varies
from beginning to end. Can you find at least 2 meanings to the word?

8. Shakespeare is the master of metaphor. Find the powerful metaphor (an example of
personification) in the first quatrain of the sonnet. What does it mean?

9. There’s a beautiful metaphor towards the end of the poem, too. Find it. Hint: It became
the title of a movie about 30 years ago. What does this metaphor mean?

10. Paraphrase the poem. If you come upon any words that you don’t know, such as
“bootless,” look them up. Search for archaic or antiquated meanings of unfamiliar words.

11. Ah, your favorite thing to do! Find one good example of alliteration, one super knock-
out example of consonance (towards the end), and one example of assonance. When
searching for alliteration, stay away from words like “this” and “then.” Pick important
words, and remember that the words must fall within 4 lines of each other. Put the line
number after the word (7) to let me know where you found it. Don’t confuse repetition
with alliteration, assonance or consonance.