Theme Of The Sonnet Not Marble Nor The Gilded Monuments

Shakespeare s 55 th sonnet deals with the unique theme of immortality through verse.

Theme of the sonnet not marble nor the gilded monuments.

Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme. When wasteful war shall statues overturn and broils root out the work of masonry. Not marble nor the gilded monuments. Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme but you shall shine more bright in these contents.

Sonnet 55 builds on the theme of poetry outlasting physical monuments to the dead. Shakespeare sonnet 55 analysis shakespeare says that no statues or decorated monuments nor the gilded monuments can outlast the powerful poem he is writing. Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme but you shall shine more bright in these contents. With the passage of time these monuments would wear a neglected look and unfaithful time would take its toll and leave the monuments.

Than unswept stone besmear d with sluttish time. Instead it continues in the next line. The poet in sonnet 55. Not marble nor the gilded monuments sonnet 55 william shakespeare 1564 1616.

Not marble nor the gilded monuments. Exegi monumentum aere perennius regalique situ pyramidum altius. But you shall shine more bright in these contents. Not marble nor the gilded monuments says that his verse will survive longer than the marble statues and the gold plated monuments of the rich and powerful.

Translation to modern english neither marble nor the gilded tombs of princes will outlive this powerful poetry but you will shine more brightly in these pages than those neglected buildings that crumble to dust besmirched by heartless time. Than unswept stone besmear d with sluttish time. Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme. He refers to princes great rulers and the rich who have sought to immortalize themselves or what they love through monuments statues and memorials.

Than unswept stone besmeared with sluttish time. It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break. This theme of immortality through verse is common in shakespeare s sonnets. A reading of a classic shakespeare sonnet not marble nor the gilded monuments is one of the more famous poems in shakespeare s sequence of 154 sonnets.

But you shall shine more bright in these contents. The poem is a version of the popular conceit that the poet s words can make his lover immortal through rhyme. I shall never completely die. The wreck of time is a recurring theme in shakespeare s sonnets often it is addressed in terms of its inevitable effect on beauty and youth especially that of the fair lord but here its impact on statues and shrines is the emphasis.

In this sonnet the bard talks about the futility of worldly glory and material attempts at immortalization. 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. Sonnet 55 builds on horace s theme of poetry outlasting physical monuments to the dead. This phrase translates to i have built a monument more lasting than bronze and taller than the regal peak of the pyramids.