Topic > Free essays on Shakespeare's Sonnet 14 - 384

Analysis of Sonnet 14I do not draw my judgment from the stars, yet I seem to possess astronomy, but not to speak of good or bad luck, of plagues, of famines , or quality of the season: nor can I foretell the future for brief minutes, pointing out to each his thunder, rain and wind, or tell with princes whether it will go well, often foreseeing it I in heaven I find: But from your eyes I draw my knowledge, And, constant stars, in them I read the art sucked How truth and beauty will prosper together If from yourself to store you would convert: Or of you I predict: - Your end is the date and destiny of truth and beauty. 1-2: «I do not draw my conclusions from the stars, yet I think I understand astrology; 3-4: 'but (astrology) has never predicted (for me) good or bad fortune, or plagues, or famines, or the quality of the coming seasons:' 5-6: 'Nor can I predict (from the stars ) every single minute, assigning to each minute [i.e. whether or not it will be] thunder or rain or wind', 7-8: 'Or say that everything will go well by signs (of the stars), that looking at the sky (for answers) is my habit:' 9-10: 'only from your eyes do I form my knowledge, and, in your eyes (which are constant stars), I see such art' 11-12: 'As truth or beauty thriving together , if you were to convert yourself to the stock [as in stock cattle]:' The paraphrase for the three quatrains may not seem necessary, for it is quite simple in its meaning; however, the couplet provides ambiguity. The couplet is where Shakespeare usually makes an antithesis of the three quatrains or presents some ambiguity, the last of which is this one. I found