Shakespeare's sonnets

Last night while i was working i was able to read the shakespeare sonnets that we were assigned. Surprisingly, i was able to focus on the sonnets and really understand what Shakespeare was getting at with each one, or i think i did. Though i enjoyed venus and Adonis, the sonnets were thus far my favorite to read. I loved the imagery within them and the many ways that he describes the passage of time and lovers. Wile the imagery of nature among the romantic poets is widely used, i can't help but be drawn to it. With Keats and Shakespeare especially, the naturalistic images are so descriptive and real. Yu can. Actually see "thy eternal summer sun" (sonnet 18), men as plants (sonnet 15), and death creeping up (sonnet 73).

The memory has never ceased to fascinate me and i have had many conversations about this with various people. What makes us remember some things so clearly while other things can drift away more quickly than they happened? Don't give me the simple answer of "well, some things just stick or must have been that important". No, it has to be something more, something we just haven't figured out yet. His sonnets are a reflection of life, things past and lost, the sorrows of what had been. These sonnets remind me so much of 2 of my favorite poets, Keats and Eliot. Most of the time i am simply speechless i can't even seem to get out a coherent blog. It's like my breath is stopped momentarily and all my thoughts run together....so much to say yet i am silent. Perhaps, they are that powerful and whatever it is making me think of is possibly better kept to myself. Sonnets 55 and 129 are what i had in mind as i was trying to get this out.

Sonnet 130 makes me laugh every time. It reminds me of that saying "a face only a mother could love" How horrible! But then again he does describe it as a rare love. As i neared the end of the sonnets, I had to pause. Sonnet 129 confused me a little. He talks of this murderous lust, like a sort of rage. I wondered if this is more like venus and Adonis or if it is talking about fighting for a lover, was there a love affair going on that created these feelings? The reason i thought of lovers cheating was because of the lines "on purpose laid to make the taker mad". I could be completely off track....but i think either way i like my interpretation until things are made clear.

Lastly, i want to put a word in about sonnet 60. I had responded to some blogs, one of them speaking about time as lunar not linear, and this sonnet reflected that. There is the image of the sea and its constant rolling action. The sea has always been a powerful image for me; it creates an interesting uneasiness and meditation for me. Of course the moon and stars Coincide wonderfully with each other, feeding off one another like animals.