The literature and poetry of William Shakespeare still live on and are greatly appreciated even after nearly 400 year years. On this thought, let us discuss the lines of one of his sonnets “Not marble, nor the gilded monuments,” known as sonnet 55. Shakespeare wrote a total of 154 sonnets. Sonnet 55 is one of the most widely appreciated of his sonnets. A sonnet consists of 14 lines and usually dwells on a particular theme. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow the following rhyming scheme: a-b, a-b, b-c, b-c, d-e, d-e, g-g.
“Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than upswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.”
Can you think of a marble monument which was built around the same time that Shakespeare’s literature came into being? Of course, it is the Taj Mahal which tried to immortalize the love that Shah Jahan felt for Mumtaz. Here, Shakespeare says that poetry written with much intensity will live on and on unlike monuments which can get destroyed by earthly ravages. Shakespeare had written his sonnet for someone he greatly admired. He expresses the belief that brilliant literary pieces will live for thousands of years and are more powerful than any monument that was ever built by royalty. You can see that “monuments” rhymes with “contents” and “rhyme” rhymes with “time,” that is a-b, a-b rhyme scheme.
“When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword, nor war’s quick fire shall burn,
The living record of your memory.”
Here, Shakespeare again continues in the same vein. He tries to further reinforce his belief of the power of poetry and literature. He says that even the decadent forces of war cannot destroy poetry unlike sculptures and other works of art which can be forever destroyed by wars and fires. Shakespeare says that a poem is like a “living record” which will live on in the hearts and minds of people who read his poetry and is invincible. Thus, it is a great way to immortalize and celebrate a person whom he deeply admires.
The last six lines of the sonnet are as follows. Observe the rhyming scheme. You can see that the last two lines are a rhyming couplet. Can you see how the same theme of immortalizing the person whom he admires is now further elaborated and concluded?
“Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room,
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lover’s eyes.”
Shakespeare uses his brilliant interplay of words and rhymes to state the “special” person whom he has immortalized in his words will live on through his sonnet and in people’s eyes, hearts and minds. The “immortalized” person in Shakespeare’s sonnet will be celebrated for eternity until the end of time or “judgment day.”