Shakespeare and Browning Sonnets: Themes and Language

Shakespeare's Sonnet 15: Men, Plants, and Time

Shakespeare compares the growth of men to the growth of plants in Sonnet 15: "When I perceive that men as plants increase . . ." (line 5). Time is also used as a motif in the poem, in the sense that the young man is in the "day" of his life, but as he grows older he enters the "night" of his life. The central idea is that a person's life resembles that of a plant — it begins with a seed, it sprouts and grows upward toward the sky, and at a certain point the growth stops and the decline sets in, for both the plant and the individual.

Shakespeare reinforces these comparisons through his use of language, extending the metaphors into the poem's imagery. He discusses "youthful sap" — a phrase that simultaneously evokes the blood of young men and the sugary substance flowing through a tree — and invokes the sky that stands over all life, plant as well as animal. Even more strikingly, Shakespeare positions himself as directly involved, like a horticulturist, in the young man's life: his words are offered like the supporting vines given to a new plant in need of structure. Shakespeare declares that he will go to "war with Time" (line 13) — the force that brings decay to all things — by making the young man new again through the poem: "I engraft you new" (line 14). The central theme thus emerges: all life is mortal, but poetry can, if not make men immortal, at least extend their lives — so long as men have eyes to see.

Sonnet 27: Opposites and Sleepless Devotion

Over the course of Sonnet 27, the speaker is lying down to sleep. He is unable to rest, even though his body is tired, because his mind is wide awake. His mind keeps summoning the image of his friend before his eyes — and because his friend is so beautiful, "like a jewel hung in ghastly night" (line 12) — he cannot get any rest. His mind will not turn off, nor will his eyes look away from the imaginary sight.

The poem pairs opposites to convey the central theme of a man enamored of his friend, using language that suggests a journey is being made: the man going to bed should be resting but instead makes "a zealous pilgrimage to thee" (line 7). "Old" is juxtaposed with "new" (line 13), day with night (lines 12–13), a bright "jewel" with "black night" (lines 12–13), and the work of the mind with the work of the body (line 4). The idea is that the narrator should be sleeping and resting, but cannot, because his friend's beauty is so powerful that as soon as he has a moment free from manual labor, his mental labor begins — the contemplation of how magnificent his friend is.

Browning's Sonnet 16: Love as Battle and Surrender

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's language and images in Sonnet 16 evoke a beloved who is a warrior-king seeking to make the speaker his own. The speaker is lonely and burdened by that loneliness, yet the idea of wearing the royal purple also weighs on her, because royalty carries great responsibility. She will accept that burden if he asks — but she asks in return that he make his love for her as great as possible, so she can bear the weight of being by his side and part of his life.

Browning uses words such as "king" (line 2), "conquering" (line 6), "crushing" (line 8), and "sword" (line 9) to convey a sense of battle within the poem. The notion that love should be filled with physical emotion, anguish, greatness, and power runs throughout and is central to the poem's theme. Browning evokes love as something royal, as something resembling surrender (the soldier yielding up the sword), and as something that gives new life: "I rise above abasement at the word" (line 13).