Tia BentivegnaMs. GardnerEnglish 10, Period 217 Sep 2014

Sonnet 25: Analysis

In Sonnet 25, everlasting love is immune to the need for fame and fortune: Through a forceful sonnet structure concluding with a powerful couplet, the poet’s message lives on. This sonnet illuminates the effects of being caught up in a world of fame and honor; however, the poet notes how his love is worth more than any of that hierarchy. William Shakespeare’s use of a problem developed in his three quatrains and eventually settled in his captivating couplet clearly stages the poet’s angst against the higher life and people of honor who continually “boast” about their popularity. The sonnet begins with the issue early on in the first quatrain where the poet notices that everyone that comes from royalty, fame, or honor is looked upon much more and greater than he, who is “unlook’d” because he does not have any of that.

Later on the problem is developed within the middle quatrains when Shakespeare notes that all people of greatness and popularity are one day forgotten and will not matter as much as they appear to. Shakespeare’s use of an impressive simile announces what will soon happen to all of these types of people: “But as the marigold at the sun’s eye; / And in themselves their pride lies buried.” This forcible simile accentuates the reality that ultimately comes from fame and money which is the loss of love and character, as well as those people will forever swallow their own pride. The comparison between the marigold and the sun represent that pride that is sooner or later buried within the human.

In the end, the issue is resolved as Shakespeare says he can avoid all of these complications. Shakespeare’s closing couplet embedded in this sonnet portrays how his love and pride is all within his beloved, and it cannot be removed: “Then happy I, that love and am beloved / Where I may not remove nor be removed” (13-14). Conclusively, the poet and his beloved are free from all of the obstacles and disadvantages that later come with fame and fortune. Since they are mortal, they will eventually die; nonetheless, they will always be in each other’s hearts. The poet’s words continue to live on as we, the readers, continue to examine them with our minds, words, and voices. The poet is ultimately greater than all of the popularity that he notes is not worth the complications in the end, and his compelling words are carried through to his many generations of readers.