Sonnet 19
Encyclopedia
Shakespeare's Sonnet 19, sometimes considered the last of the opening group of sonnets, treats the theme of redemption of time through art.
notes and analyzes the way in which "devouring" time is developed by trope in the first 19 poems; Jonathan Hart notes the reliance of Shakespeare's treatment on tropes from Ovid
and Edmund Spenser
. Like the poems that immediately precede it, the poem offers the immortality of art as a way to escape time and death.
Quarto
's "yawes" (3) was amended to "jaws" by Edward Capell
and Edmond Malone
; this change is now almost universally accepted. George Steevens
glosses "in her blood" as "burned alive" by analogy with Coriolanus
4.6.85; Nicolaus Delius
has the phrase "while still standing."
Henry Charles Beeching
perceives a valediction in the final line, meant to indicate that the opening group of sonnets ends here.
Source and analysis
G. Wilson KnightG. Wilson Knight
George Richard Wilson Knight was an English literary critic and academic, known particularly for his interpretation of mythic content in literature, and his essays The Wheel of Fire on Shakespeare's drama...
notes and analyzes the way in which "devouring" time is developed by trope in the first 19 poems; Jonathan Hart notes the reliance of Shakespeare's treatment on tropes from Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
and Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
. Like the poems that immediately precede it, the poem offers the immortality of art as a way to escape time and death.
Quarto
Quarto
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
's "yawes" (3) was amended to "jaws" by Edward Capell
Edward Capell
Edward Capell , English Shakespearian critic, was born at Troston Hall in Suffolk.-Biography:Through the influence of the Duke of Grafton he was appointed to the office of deputy-inspector of plays in 1737, with a salary of £200 per annum, and in 1745 he was made groom of the privy chamber through...
and Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first political and then more congenial literary pursuits. He went to London, where he...
; this change is now almost universally accepted. George Steevens
George Steevens
George Steevens was an English Shakespearean commentator.He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at King's College, Cambridge, where he remained from 1753 to 1756...
glosses "in her blood" as "burned alive" by analogy with Coriolanus
Coriolanus (play)
Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.-Characters:*Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus...
4.6.85; Nicolaus Delius
Nicolaus Delius
Nicolaus Delius was a German philologist. Delius was born at Bremen; he was distinguished especially as a student of Shakespeare and for his edition of Shakespeare's works....
has the phrase "while still standing."
Henry Charles Beeching
Henry Charles Beeching
Henry Charles Beeching was an English clergyman, author and poet. He was educated at the City of London School and at Balliol College, Oxford. He took holy orders in 1882, and began work in a Liverpool parish. He later became Dean of Norwich. He gave the Clark Lecture in 1900 on The history of...
perceives a valediction in the final line, meant to indicate that the opening group of sonnets ends here.
Interpretations
- David HarewoodDavid HarewoodDavid Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby...
, for the 2002 compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, When Love SpeaksWhen Love SpeaksWhen Love Speaks is a compilation album that features interpretations of William Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians, released under EMI Classics in April 2002.-Track listing:...
(EMI ClassicsEMI ClassicsEMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
)