Red-Headed

Arguably the most famous poet in the English language, William Shakespeare, obviously needs no introduction. Of the many legends about him, one of them is that he was born & died on the same date: St George's day (April 23rd), fifty two years being between them of course. St George, conveniently being the patron saint of England.

Warwickshire parish records state that he was baptised on April 26th 1564, his father was a leading citizen of the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon & his mother belonged to the landed gentry of the afore mentioned county shire.

It is generally believed that the sonnets were written in two periods of time; the earlier works being written between 1592-96 around the same time as 'The Merchant of Venice' & 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' & the later sonnets written around 1600-08 between the composition of the later plays of 'Julius Caesar' & 'Hamlet'. It is worth pointing out, however, that not all Shakespearian scholars agree on these dates & many disagree on almost everything.

The sonnets were first published in 1609 for the printer Thomas Thorpe in addition to a three hundred & twenty-nine line poem in Rhyme Royal entitled A Lover's Complaint . The latter poem is now not considered by some scholars to actually be the work of Shakespeare. However they seemed to be quite satisfactorily printed & it was 1640 before another edition was produced. The order of the sonnets themselves being changed slightly.

I do not intend in this column to go into the various controversies surrounding the sonnets. I am not that concerned as to whether they were based on real experiences or not, whether they are in a coherent sequence or not, who the rival poet & dark lady were or were not etc. I especially do not want to speculate on which particular young man the Bard was encouraging to engage in matrimony in the first cycle of seventeen sonnets commencing with sonnet one.

I tend to agree with W.H. Auden, that there has been enough nonsense written about these subjects over the past couple of hundred years, & anyone who wishes to research this literary quagmire of speculation may do so at his or her own leisure.

Although in my opinion; Auden was just as guilty as many others in his own peculiar speculations about the Bard. However, I do agree with the British writer Anthony Holden, that the great mystery of the now famous dedication to the enigmatic Mr W H, is probably the printer acknowledging the source of the acquisition of the sonnets themselves. This was most probably Shakespeare's indigent brother-in-law William Hathaway trying to make a pretty penny out of his famous relative.

This next interesting sonnet is very typical of Shakespeare. He was a master of alliteration in combination with assonance. Take your time & read this poem out aloud. The first quatrain has a comma after the verb wink, & in effect it gives the first line a slight caesura before it proceeds. This apparently simple device beautifully brings out & contrasts the labio-nasal & dental-nasal n & m consonants respectively. As we move into the second line the partial vowel rhymes seem to lead logically to the sibilant sounds at the end of it. These combinations of phonemes & the usage of sibilants are very characteristic of Shakespeare & almost amount to a trademark of sorts. Notice how he uses a great deal of alliteration in combination with the repetition of certain words to give this work such a powerful aural effect. The couplet beautifully rounds off the entire poem. Haven't we all dreamed of a loved one at some time, then awoken to find that it was a dream after all. How perfectly stated is that sentiment in this sonnet?

XLIII

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And, darkly bright, are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes, be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

This next poem is a bit of an oddity. It was included in the sonnets & yet has the peculiar distinction of being only twelve lines & written entirely in couplets. Whether this was considered a sonnet by the poet or not is another question. One of the concepts I have being trying to promulgate in this series of columns about the sonnet is that, as a form, it was not always considered as fixed as we tend to think it is today. Indeed, this may have just as much been considered a sonnet to Shakespeare as any of the others he wrote. Of course, that is if he is in fact the author. It does not seem to be his best work! We will probably never know for certain.

CXXVI

O thou, my lovely boy, who is in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour;
Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st
Thy lovers withering as thy sweet self grow'st;
If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack
As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back,
She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.
Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!
She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:
Her audit, though delay'd, answer'd must be,
And her quietus is to render thee.

Perhaps we should give Matthew Arnold the last say on the Bard:

Shakespeare (A sonnet on by Matthew Arnold)

Others abide our question. Thou art free.
We ask and ask: Thou smilest and art still,
Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill
That to the stars uncrowns his majesty,
Planting his steadfast footsteps in the sea,
Making the Heaven of Heavens his dwelling-place,
Spares but the cloudy border of his base
To the foil'd searching of mortality:
And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,
Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self-honour'd, self-secure,
Didst walk on Earth unguess'd at. Better so!
All pains the immortal spirit must endure,
All weakness that impairs, all griefs that bow,
find their sole voice in that victorious brow.



Sir John Suckling (1609-1642) was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was descended from an old Norfolk family & inherited large estates. He travelled in Europe & was knighted on his return. His was described by John Aubrey (1626-1697) the English antiquarian as being 'the greatest gallant of his time, and the greatest gamester, both for bowling and cards, so that no shopkeeper would trust him for 6d'. In fact Aubrey believed that he invented the game of Cribbage. He supposedly had a sparkling wit and was also great admirer of the works of Shakespeare. His chief works are included in Fragmenta Aurea (1646) which include poems, plays, letters & tracts. According to Aubrey he committed suicide in Paris.

Sonnet

Of thee (kind boy) I ask no red and white
To make up my delight,
No odd becoming graces,
Black eyes, or little know-not-whats, in faces;
Make me but mad enough, give me good store
Of love, for her I court,
I ask no more,
'Tis love in love that makes the sport.

There's no such thing as that we beauty call,
It is meer cosenage all;
For though some long ago
Lik'd certain colours mingled so and so,
That doth not tie me now from chusing new;
If I fancy take
To black and blue,
That fancy doth it beauty make.

'Tis not the meat, but 'tis the appetite
Makes eating a delight,
And if I like one dish
More than another, that a Pheasant is;
What in our watches, that in us is found,
So to the height and nick
We up be wound,
No matter by what hand or tric

Sonnet

Oh! for some honest lovers ghost,
Some kind unbodied post
Sent from the shades below.
I strangely long to know
Whether the noble Chaplets wear,
Those that their mistresse scorn did bear,
Or those that were us'd kindly.

For what-so-e'er they tell us here
To make those sufferings dear,
'Twill there I fear be found,
That to the being crown'd,
T'have lov'd alone will not suffice,
Unlesse we also have been wise,
And have our Loves enjoy'd.

What posture can we think him in,
That here unlov'd agen
Departs and's thither gone
Where each sits by his own?
Or how can that Elizium be
Where I my Mistresse still must see
Circled in others Arms?

For there the judges are all just,
And Sophonisba must
Be his whom she held dear;
Not his who lov'd her here:
The sweet Philoclea since she died
Lies by her Pirocles his side
Not by Amphialus.

Some Bayes (perchance) or Myrtle bough
For difference crowns the brow
Of those kind souls that were
The noble Martyrs here;
And if that be the only odds,
(As who can tell) ye kinder Gods,
Give me the woman here.

(Fragmenta Aurea 1646)

What are we to make of these two apparently linked poems? Are they indeed sonnets? The first comprises of three connected verses with a definite rhyme scheme. The verses of eight lines rhyme AA BB CD CD. This makes the whole sequence twenty eight lines of iambic pentameter. The syllable count is also not totally regular either. The second sonnet chain is different yet again. Five stanzas of seven lines consisting of a slightly inconsistent rhyme scheme that seems to be based on couplets. Perhaps Sir John had more liberal views on the interpretation of the sonnet than we do today!

Bibliography as with earlier blogs