Comparison of two shakespeare sonnets

Louisa Mayman
GCSE LITERATURE COURSEWORK
Comparison of two Shakespeare Sonnets
Sonnets were written in the late 16th century to woo a lover, or perhaps would be received from an admirer. They were very fashionable at this time. They would describe their beauty and love. Shakespeare also wrote sonnets, perhaps for his own lover or for someone to give to their lover in return for payment.
A sonnet is a poem that has 14 lines. In a Shakespearean sonnet there are 3 verses of 4 lines each, rhyming abab, cdcd, efef, and with a rhyming couplet at the end, gg. Each line has a regular number of syllables. It is a very strict rhythm. The first eight lines (OCTET) usually pose a question or put forward an idea. The second (SESTET) answers this or comments on the idea in some way. The whole sonnet has a message or meaning which is often very clever.
The first Shakespearean sonnet I am analysing is “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” On the first line of this sonnet it says, “Sha...