Sonnet 55

E493807

Sonnet 55 is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets, notable for its meditation on the power of poetry to immortalize the beloved beyond the ravages of time and decay.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English poem
Shakespearean sonnet
love sonnet
addresses the Fair Youth NERFINISHED
approximateCompositionDate 1590s
asserts the beloved will live in the poem until Judgment Day
author William Shakespeare NERFINISHED
centralClaim poetry outlives physical monuments
centuryOfComposition 16th century
commonlyIncludedIn anthologies of English literature
collections of Shakespeare's sonnets
contrasts art and material monuments
countryOfOrigin England
criticalReputation one of Shakespeare's most famous sonnets
firstLine Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
firstPublication 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's sonnets
form three quatrains and a couplet
genre lyric poetry
influenceOn later discussions of poetic immortality
language English
literaryDevice alliteration
contrast
hyperbole
metaphor
personification of Time and War
literaryPeriod English Renaissance NERFINISHED
mentions gilded monuments of princes
sluttish time
war
metricalForm iambic pentameter
movement English sonnet tradition NERFINISHED
numberInSequence 55
openingImage contrast between marble monuments and verse
partOf Shakespeare's Fair Youth sequence NERFINISHED
Shakespeare's sonnet sequence NERFINISHED
publisherOfFirstEdition Thomas Thorpe NERFINISHED
rhymeScheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
structureFunction final couplet reinforces promise of immortality
studiedIn Shakespearean criticism NERFINISHED
subjectMatter enduring power of verse over time
theme enduring memory of the beloved
immortality through verse
power of poetry
time and decay
transience of worldly monuments
tone assertive
confident
totalLines 14

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sonnets hasPart Sonnet 55