Sonnet 104 Flashcards
(25 cards)
Who is the author of Sonnet 104?
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was a prolific English poet, playwright, and actor.
In which literary period did Shakespeare write?
The Elizabethan period
What themes do Shakespeare’s sonnets typically explore?
- Love
- Age and the passage of time
- Youth
- Absence
- Beauty
- Marriage
- Lust and passion
- Betrayal and infidelity
What is the rhyme scheme of the first quatrain in Sonnet 104?
abab
What does the speaker claim about his friend’s beauty?
His friend can never be old in his eyes
What seasonal imagery is used to describe the passage of time in Sonnet 104?
- Three winters cold
- Three beauteous springs
- Yellow autumn
- Hot Junes
What is the rhyme scheme of the second quatrain in Sonnet 104?
cdcd
What does the diction ‘fresh’ and ‘green’ suggest about the friend?
The friend’s youthfulness has remained unchanged
What is the rhyme scheme of the third quatrain in Sonnet 104?
efef
What simile is used in Sonnet 104 to describe beauty?
Beauty, like a dial-hand
What does the speaker fear regarding his friend’s beauty?
That his friend will lose his beauty someday
What is the rhyme scheme of the rhyming couplet in Sonnet 104?
gg
What does the speaker claim about beauty in relation to unborn generations?
The most beautiful person – his friend – was already dead before they were born
What type of sonnet is Sonnet 104?
A Shakespearean sonnet
What is the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet?
- Three quatrains
- One rhyming couplet
- Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
What is the meter used in Sonnet 104?
Iambic pentameter
What is the tone of the speaker in the three quatrains of Sonnet 104?
Appreciative
What is the tone of the speaker in the rhyming couplet of Sonnet 104?
Boastful/Dismissive
What figures of speech are used in Sonnet 104? Provide examples.
- Simile: ‘like a dial-hand’
- Metaphor: ‘Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green’
- Personification: ‘steal from his figure’
- Hyperbole: ‘Ere you were born was beauty’s summer dead’
What poetic device involves the repetition of initial consonant sounds?
Alliteration
What poetic device involves the repetition of vowel sounds?
Assonance
What is an example of anaphora in Sonnet 104?
The repetition of ‘Three’ in lines 5 and 7
What does the poem ‘Beauty of Age’ suggest about beauty?
Beauty is shown as we get older and is more than skin deep
Fill in the blank: The speaker acknowledges that beauty is _______.
mortal
