The genre of the sonnet is a large field, with a number of sonnet forms and conventions. This essay will explore the genre of the sonnet, and will analyse a pair of sonnets, paying attention to form, subject and poetic conventions, as well as their relationship to each other.
The two sonnets in question, Drayton’s sonnet 63 and Shakespeare’s sonnet 90, are both examples of the English Sonnet, a subgenre of the sonnet; that is, they both have the rhyming scheme of ‘abab cdcd efefe gg’, as well as the standard sonnet conventions of fourteen lines and 140 syllables for a sonnet written in iambic pentameter. This rhyming scheme in an English Sonnet allows the emergence of three distinct quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet, as opposed to the Petrarchan sonnet which consists of an octave and a sestet. The change in the rhyming scheme shows the shift in the subject. There is a shift in line five of sonnet 63, with the subject of the poem turning from one of explanation of the situation, to a more emotional offering of surrender. The Volta in sonnet 63 occurs at line nine, with the signifier ‘or’ establishing the major turn in the sonnet. Sonnet 90 also uses this shifting technique, with line five and line nine being the shift and the volta respectively; the volta being signified with the word ‘if.’
The subject of both of the sonnets is that of the relationship, as is the usual tradition in the sonnet. However, this pair of sonnets deals with the breakdown in relationships. This is established in sonnet 63 in the first quatrain, especially in line two, ‘Methinks tis long since first these wars begun’ continuing with the admission that ‘…neither party won.’ Thus, the narrator infers that there is a lengthy interaction between the narrator and the subject prior to the sonnets opening. The first quatrain also establishes the imagery of war within this sonnet, equating the relationship with conflict, by means of the narrating voice speaking of ‘these wars’ and in line four, of neither party winning. Sonnet 90 also has this motif of war; but in this sonnet the motif first occurs in quatrain two, at line six, ‘Come in the rearward of a conquered woe’ and is expanded in line eight ‘To linger out a purposed overthrow.’
The warlike motif in sonnet 90 is not for the same effect as sonnet 63; rather, it is a plea for clemency from the subject of the sonnet. This is shown at the beginning of the second quatrain, following the shift at line five; the harsh tone of the first quatrain is replaced by a softer tone, ‘Then hate me if thou wilt’ is replaced with ‘Ah, do not…’ However, sonnet 90 makes use of alliteration in a similar way to the war imagery of sonnet 63. The sound ‘w’ is repeated throughout the whole sonnet, from line one, with the words ‘wilt’ and ‘now,’ through to the end of the poem with the rhyming couplet having five instances of the w sound; this occurs alongside the alliteration of the word woe. This serves to heighten the reader’s awareness of the woe felt by the narrative voice in this poem, just as the warlike imagery shows the feelings of the narrative voice in sonnet 63. The rhyme scheme in sonnet 90 also allows a heightened awareness of the alliteration of the ‘woe’ in the poem. The rhyme scheme of lines five to eight, although conforming to that of ‘cdcd’ also contains words that seem to have a ‘cccc’ rhyming pattern, based around the word ‘woe’. The rhyme of lines five and seven are visual rhymes, that is, they look the same. The rhyme of lines six and eight are aural rhymes, with one of the words being ‘woe,’ in an unexpected placement, thereby foregrounding the word.
Both of the sonnets are written in the first person, as is the tradition of the sonnet. This ‘I’, the narrative voice, is speaking to an unnamed subject in both of the sonnets. In sonnet 63 this unnamed recipient is referred to as ‘gentle Love,’ surely an oxymoronic title, as the subject has been waging war with the narrator for a ‘long’ time. The recipient of sonnet 90 is not given a title, referred to in the second person throughout the poem. Both of the sonnets refer to the subject in the second person, speaking to the subject, rather than about them.
Both of these sonnets conform to certain aspects of the courtly love genre. The narrator’s are communicating the experience of lowness, dejection and rejection in relation to love for the subject. The narrator of sonnet 63 offers surrender in the ‘match,’ offering his ‘heart for hostage’ to ensure that the ‘malice cease[s].’ This implies that the narrator is subservient to the subject, going so far as to let the subject ‘raze, massacre and burn’ to ensure their victory. However, in allowing the subject victory, it allows the narrator the ultimate victory. As the final couplet states
‘I send defiance, since if overthrown,
Thou vanquishing, the conquest is mine own.’
The final couplet of an English sonnet allows the poem to come to a closed ending. Sonnet 90’s closing couplet concludes the thread of the previous twelve lines, whilst also allowing the narrator to illustrate the depth of his feeling for the subject.
‘And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with the loss of thee will not seem so.’
This final couplet is powerful in the way that it heightens the sense of loss felt by the narrator for the potential ending of the relationship in question, and contradicts the violent first lines of the sonnet. This contradiction is made evident in the softer language of quatrain two, and the final couplet emphasises this.
To conclude, the sonnet as a genre allows an outpouring of emotion in a small number of lines. The careful use of language and imagery in the sonnet allows the poem to contain a vast amount of information, which can be interpreted easily by the reader. Two sonnets written by different authors will have similar conventions if they are of the same subgenre, although the effect of the two will be very different, even if the subject is similar.
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