Учебное пособие 4 unit I. The renaissance 1485-1649

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS
Sonnet 33 is written according to the accepted form. It is traditionally
divided into the octave and sestet with concluding epigrammatic lines. The
poet dedicates the sonnet either to his friend or his beloved.
The dominant SD
1
of the sonnet is the metaphor. But the peculiarity of
the style can never lie in one dominant SD alone: we must take into account
the interrelation of other stylistic features which make up the whole, the
stylistic set for the sonnet. It is necessary to point out that a rigorous analysis
of features intuitively judged to be stylistically significant, is likely to
1
The abbreviation «SD» stands for «stylistic device»

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uncover other, previously unobserved, significant features.
In the opening line of Sonnet 33 the poet introduces himself: the presence
of the poet and the expression of his feelings in the first person is typical of
lyrical poetry:
1. Full many a glorious morning have I seen.
The inversion, (the object of the sentence comes first) emphasizes the
main image of the octave—the sun. The following three lines of the first
quatrain present syntactically three verbal parts of the complex object (I have
seen a glorious morning flatter ..., kissing ..., gilding).
The octave gives a concrete picture of the natural phenomenon of the
rising sun sometimes hidden by clouds. The image of the sun is presented as
an active being which can «flatter», «kiss», «gild», «permit», «steal». These
verb-metaphors are aimed at personifying the image of the sun. The noun-
metaphors: «an eye», «a face», «a visage», «disgrace» ascribe other qualities
characteristic of people to the sun thereby reinforcing the impression of
personification.
The analysis of the meaning and stylistic colouring of the epithets
«glorious», «sovereign», «celestial» which are used to describe the image of
the sun shows that the sun is presented by the poet not only as a human
being, but also as a powerful sovereign. The epithets «glorious»,
«sovereign», «celestial» are elevated and highly literary words and their
stylistic colouring adds to the effect of the power and might of the sun.
Note the way the two stylistic synonyms «face» and «visage» are
employed in the octave:
5. Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
6.With ugly rack on his celestial face,
7. And from the forlorn world his visage hide...
The noun «face» is a common, «neutral» word, the noun «visage»—its
literary, poetic synonym. The poet uses the neutral noun «face» with the
elevated epithet «celestial» thus making the combination «celestial face»
sound elevated and equal in stylistic colouring to the word «visage».
One more stylistically significant item in the presentation of the main
image is the word «alchemy».
«Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy». The words «heavenly
alchemy» are used metaphorically. We cannot properly understand the
significance of poetic images unless we consider the factors of culture and
tradition that affect the poet. The metaphor «heavenly alchemy» reflects the
medieval beliefs and prejudices still existing in Shakespeare’s time. We
know that the chief purpose of alchemy was to change ordinary, base metals
into gold. So the metaphor «alchemy» is the ultimate expression of the power
of the sun which unlike people possesses the secret of turning ordinary

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objects} into gold.
The word «alchemy» is semantically linked with the epithet «basest»
(clouds) in the next line: «Anon permit the basest clouds lo ride».
«Basest», the superlative degree of the adjective «base», may be
understood in this line in a number of its meanings: 1) «bad, wicked»; 2)
«dishonourable». These meanings are determined by the noun «clouds», by
the microcontext. Still the words which precede (especially «alchemy»)
affect the meaning of «basest»: the two words are drawn together as they can
be used in the same semantic sphere of communication: the purpose of
alchemy is closely connected with turning base metals into gold. So the
macrocontext also affects the meaning of the word «basest» which realizes its
third meaning «low in value» (of metals).
Note that the superlative degree («basest») intensifies the derogatory
emotive colouring of the word. The other epithet «ugly» modifying clouds
(«with ugly rack») has the same derogatory colouring.
The epithets in the octave reinforce the contrast in the emotive
presentation of the images of the sun and clouds and the difference in the
poet’s individual evaluation of them.
Such subtle manipulations of words and their semantic fields are
characteristic of Shakespeare. The epithet «glorious» is also used in the
sonnet in its several meanings: 1) «splendid» and «majestic»; 2)
«honourable»; 3) «delightful».
All stylistically significant features form a complex: syntactical
parallelism in the first quatrain is maintained by the parallel rhythmical
arrangement of the lines:
2. Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
3. Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
4. Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. The same modifier of the
rhythm (rhythmic inversion) occurs in the first feet of these three lines:
1. ΄ ¡ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ |
2. ΄ ¡ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ |
3. ΄ ¡ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ | ¡ ΄ |
Rhythmically the lines are absolutely similarly arranged. The inversion
«the meadows green» evidently supports the complete rhythmical
parallelism, as semantically the postposition of the epithet here is of no
stylistic value.
Such parallelism (both syntactical and rhythmical) in the description of
the sunrise corresponds to the real picture of the rising sun gradually
lightening first the mountain-tops, then the fields and meadows, and last the
pale streams.
The sestet begins with the words «Even so» showing that the idea is

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developed as an analogy of the idea expressed in the octave: «Even so my
sun one early morn did shine...»
The dominant SD of the sonnet, metaphor, is further intensified: the same
images of the sun and clouds are employed by the poet, but in a metaphorical
sense as the poet speaks of his unhappy state. The sustained metaphor of the
sestet forms a complex image:
9.Even so my sun one early morn did shine
10.With all-triumphant splendour on my brow;
11.But, out, alack! he was but one hour mine;
12.The region cloud hath mask’t him from “me now.
The poetic form «morn» (morning), and the epithet «all-triumphant
splendour» (a stylistic neologism) describe the sun in the same elevated
manner as in the octave. The metonymy «my brow» is trite, but the poetic
colouring of the word adds to the effect of elevation. The archaic form of the
verb «to have» — »hath» and to a certain extent, the archaic grammar
construction «did shine» help to sustain the elevated colouring. «Did shine»
may have been chosen for rhythmical reasons as well, since the form «shone»
would have affected the iambic pentameter of the line.
The highly emotive tone of the sestet is primarily brought out by the
interjections «But, out, alack».
Note that the regular iambic scheme is slightly changed to heighten the
emotiveness of the line.
The emotive function laid bare in interjections affects to a considerable
extent the whole sonnet. Epithets and metaphors which possess an emotive
meaning, too, support the emotional impact of the utterance.
The compositional structure of the sonnet is based on parallelism and
analogy in the presentation of the idea. The parallelism (rather repetition) of
the same images in the octave and the sestet («sun», «clouds») reinforces the
effect of the strict balance and compact unity of the sonnet.
The main stylistic features of Sonnet 33 — metaphor and parallelism —
manifest themselves most palpably in the last epigrammatic line. The image
of the sun is repeated twice: first it is used as a metaphor («suns of the
world»), then in its direct logical meaning of the celestial body («heaven’s
sun»). The verb «stain» is also used twice: in a metaphorical meaning and in
its direct meaning; syntactical parallelism in the two clauses of the
epigrammatic line corresponds to the principle of parallelism in the
presentation of the idea in the sonnet.
It becomes clear that the striking structural principle in this sonnet is
parallelism (and repetition in particular) and it manifests itself most intensely
in the epigrammatic line:
13.Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;

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14.Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth.
The archaic forms of the verbs «disdain» and «slain» are made prominent
as they are rhymes which are generally stressed. The impression of solemnity
and elevation produced by these EMs2 clashes with the meaning of the last
line which, is not at all solemn. The elevated form of expression modifies the
meaning of the conclusion making the line sound humorous.
Note that the functions of rhymes here are extended, besides their formal
poetical function of marking the end of lines and making rhythm easily
perceptible, they play an additional semantic role modifying the meaning of
the utterance.