Sonnet 154

E505836

Sonnet 154 is the final poem in William Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence, notable for its mythological imagery and meditation on unrequited love and desire.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English sonnet
Shakespearean sonnet
poem
addresses the problem of love that cannot be cured
addressesTo an unnamed speaker
author William Shakespeare NERFINISHED
closingCoupletFunction moral reflection on incurable love
collection Shakespeare's Sonnets NERFINISHED
containsMotif love as a burning fire
water that cannot quench love
criticalReceptionAspect discussed for its mythological allegory
often read as an appendix to the main sonnet sequence
firstPublishedIn Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609) quarto NERFINISHED
focusesOn the persistence of erotic desire despite remedies
form sonnet
genre love poetry
hasCompanionPoem Sonnet 153 NERFINISHED
imageryType fire and water imagery
mythological imagery
isFinalWorkIn Shakespeare's sonnet sequence NERFINISHED
isParaphraseOf a Greek epigram about Cupid and a bath
language English
lineCount 14
literaryMovement Elizabethan literature NERFINISHED
meter iambic pentameter
narrativeVoice first-person speaker
partOf Shakespeare's sonnet sequence NERFINISHED
period English Renaissance NERFINISHED
positionInSeries 154
publicationYear 1609
relatedWork Sonnet 153 NERFINISHED
rhymeScheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
setting a fountain or bath
sharesPlotWith Sonnet 153 NERFINISHED
studiedIn Renaissance poetry courses
Shakespearean criticism
symbolizes Cupid's torch as enduring desire
the bath as attempted cure for love
textualRelation considered a variation on a classical epigram tradition
theme desire
erotic love
frustrated passion
mythological love imagery
unrequited love
usesMythologicalFigure Cupid NERFINISHED
nymphs

Referenced by (1)

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

Sonnets hasPart Sonnet 154