William Shakespeare: A Poetic Mastermind of the 16th Century

William Shakespeare is an English poet that I look to for inspiration. I view him as a creative mastermind. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and and 37 plays. In addition, he was an actor in several of his own plays. He is also credited with creating thousands of new words. It is said that he often mixed Latin, French, and his native roots to invent new words. Shakespeare's poetic word creations include dewdrop, leapfrog, radiance, zany, and arch-villain.

Shakespeare's life and death

I find it eerie that Shakespeare is believed to share his birthday with his date of death. We do know that Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. We also know for a fact that he was born in 1564. Since Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, his birthday is traditionally celebrated on April 23.

Shakespeare's marriage

Another coincidence is that Shakespeare married a woman by the name of Anne Hathaway. These days, we associate the name Anne Hathaway with the actress. When William married his Anne, he was 18-years-old and she was 26-years-old. Not only do I draw inspiration from Shakespeare's poetry, I also find it inspirational that his marriage lasted until the day he died.

Shakespearean sonnets

Shakespearean sonnets can be challenging to learn, but they do get easier with practice. You can learn to write like Shakespeare too. Shakespeare wrote all of his sonnets in iambic pentameter with the exception of sonnet 145. This tells me that he left room for individual creativity because he used trochaic tetrameter instead of iambic pentameter. You may also notice that most Shakespearean sonnets consist of 10 syllables per line.

Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 is one of Shakespeare's most famous pieces of poetry. It is written in perfect iambic pentameter and each line has exactly 10 syllables. Quatrain 1 (the first 4 lines) is romantic in nature. It also paints a visual picture, and the words flow melodiously off the tongue.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Quatrain 2 (the second set of 4 lines) begins to get bittersweet from the beginning.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

The last two lines are called a couplet and they read:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Shakespeare is showing his love and affection through words. He is giving his companion a sense of immortality through his writing.

Some rewording is needed to fully understand the meaning behind Shakespeare's sonnets since they were written in the 16th century. You can read a modern day interpretation to fully appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's craft.

Sonnet 145

Shakespeare's one sonnet that is written in trochaic tetrameter is number 145. He seems to have created a masterpiece that didn't follow his normal style of writing. I find it interesting that every line has eight syllables except for line 12, which has nine syllables. In the first two lines of the first quatrain, we see that someone is using the words "I hate" in the presence of Shakespeare.

Those lips that Love's own hand did make,
Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate',

Lines 4 and 5 read:

But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,

The couplet reads:

I hate', from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying 'not you'.

As we get to the end of the sonnet we see that there is a turn of events as the words "I hate" are changed so that they are not directed at Shakespeare. This is done because his mistress has mercy on him as she watched his "woeful state" in line four. These crushing words must have affected this brilliant poet on a deep level. He poetically states that hearing the words "not you" saved his life.

Sonnet 145 is available to read in a paraphrased version.

Shakespeare's sonnets are classic and his plays, such as "Romeo and Juliet", are timeless. Ironically, Shakespeare wanted his friend from sonnet 18 to live on through his words, but it is he himself who lives on through his art of poetry.

More from Rebecca:

My Shakespearean sonnets to date include the following:

Shakespearean Love Sonnet: I Mined Your Heart so Pure and Gave You Mine
Shakespearean Sonnet: Childhood
A Dark Shakespearean Sonnet: Black Rose

Please note that my sonnets are written mostly in iambic pentameter, yet not exclusively.