Sonnet 55 william shakespeare summary biography
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Sonnet 55
William Shakespeare
Author Biography
Poem Text
Poem Summary
Themes
Style
Historical Context
Critical Overview
Criticism
Sources
For Further Study
Shakespeare wrote a total of sonnets; the first being addressed to a “Young Man” or “Friend” while sonnets to are addressed to a mysterious “Dark Lady,” possibly the poet’s mistress. In “Sonnet 55,” addressed to the young friend, the speaker of the poem claims that his “powerful rhyme” will outlast “marble” and “gilded monuments,” keeping the youth’s memory alive until the Last Judgement. The poem makes a defiant statement about the power of poetry and love over death while, ironically, deriving much of its poetic interest through images of oblivion.
Author Biography
Shakespeare was born in in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small market town in a rural region north of London, England. He had four sisters, only one of whom lived to adulthood, and three younger brothers, all of whom survived childhood, although none outli
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Sonnet 55
Overview
“Sonnet 55” () is an English love sonnet by renowned poet William Shakespeare (). The sonnet is part of Shakespeare’s Fair Youth sonnet sequence, which makes up the first of his sonnets. This sonnet follows a number of the Fair Youth sonnets in the way it praises the fair youth’s beauty and claims his beauty is eternal. In this sonnet specifically, Shakespeare claims that the subject’s beauty will outlive all monuments of princes and will live even after the destruction time will bring to the world in the form of war and death. The poem argues that its own existence gives life to the subject, and the poem, by lasting through war and destruction, is the most powerful monument one can erect. However, the poem concludes with the idea that at the end of time, the return of Christ will lead to the resurrection of the fair youth, and that will be when the poem’s utility ends. This is one of Shakespeare’s most popular sonnets, though not as well-known as the t
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Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments Summary Class 10 English
Summary of Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments
In this article, you will be reading not marble, nor the gilded monuments summary, the 55th sonnet written by William Shakespeare. It is a poem of fourteen lines that follows a specific structure and a strict rhyme scheme. The poem tells us about the grandeur and limitations of worldly glory. All the monuments, memorials, and statues made bygd the great rulers are subject to decay. The ruins of time and the agents of downfall damage all such monuments and relics. Only the great rhyme of the poet and their powerful poetry will survive the destruction. This Shakespearian sonnet says that the love will remain immortal and the beauty of the poem will live on forever enshrined in its words.
Through the written words of this poem, the memory of the poets friend will remain until the day of the Last Judgment. The poet speaks to a specific love in this poem, although it is not