Sonnet 106 is about a beautiful person who is too lovely for
even poetry to describe. At first, Shakespeare thinks his subject is beautiful like
the old “ladies dead and lovely knights” (line 4), but then realizes that his
subject’s beauty is even greater than that described by previous authors. He
then theorizes that the “antique pen” (line 7) wrote prophecies praising this
person’s beauty. The prophecies prefigured the subject’s appearance, yet even
they “had not skill enough” to describe the beauty. Now (rather, in Shakespeare’s time) they still “lack tongues to praise” (line 14) the beauty.
·
A subtle volta appears around line 8 in this
sonnet.
o
The turn happens as Shakespeare goes from
talking about past beauty to realizing that that past beauty was actually
prophecy of the upcoming beauty of the subject of the poem.
·
Sonnet 106 can be likened to Sonnet 18, which
also speaks of an immortal and eternal beauty.
o
In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare writes about not
forgetting that eternal beauty, rather than envisioning a beauty that is
unforgettable.
o
The volta in Sonnet 18 happens around the same
place, a little bit later.
o
There is no blazon in Sonnet 18. Although it is
also about beauty, it expresses that beauty metaphorically rather than
physically.
I would have never thought to read this subject as a male, since Shakespeare usually fawns over women, but you're right! Wow, that's interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think it's definitely dedicated to a man because the speaker praises the object's "brow" (generally masculine), dwells on "lovely knights," and then says the object is a "master," which seems like a very manly verb. More importantly, the poem lacks the usual allusions to feminine beauty in the form of white breasts, raven eyes, or flowery-pink cheeks.
ReplyDelete