Essay: Analysis of Sonnet 95 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 95 How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shame Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose, Doth spot the beauty of thy budding name! Oh, in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose! That tongue that tells the story of thy days, Making lascivious comments on thy sport, Cannot dispraise but in a kind of praise. Naming thy name , blesses an ill report. Oh what a mansion have those vices got Which for thy habitation chose out thee, Where beauty's veil doth cover every blot And all things turns to fair that eyes can see! Take heed, dear heart, of this large privelege: The hardest knife ill used doth lose his edge. First Quatrain First of all, spot can mean two things: 'to discover' and also 'to stain'; therefore, the shame that "you" make can both (at the same time) point out the beauty of your name, that is possibly increasing in popularity; also 'to stain' the beauty of "your" name. Knowing this, we must read the poem twice, one for each possible reading (also notice the floral theme in the first stanza as well). Since he describeds "name" as budding, (and the fragrance of a rose as sweet), "in what sweets" can refer to the "name", and then of course, the person themself. Now, question: [first the analogy of canker being the sins; thus, as the canker destroys the rose, this person's sins destroy his name (and remember! only "name" at this point)] which one? Second Quatrain "Naming thy name": naming from the stories that have been told about this person, such as rumors. (For instance, not too far from this example, somebody you have never met, but the name is known by you, is regarded as a whore. Whether this rumor is true or not, this idea will be attached to the person who has this name. Same idea here). Line 8, depending on punctuation, can be read one of two ways (more duality!): if there is not punctuation, only a period, then "blesses" is a verb, "naming" is the action of the tongue; therefore, we can read "Naming thy name blesses and ill report" as 'the tongue that names you (rumors, or puts a background to this "name") gives blessings to "an ill report"; (of course, the comments of dispraise against your name).