The speaker tells us that instead the subject “shall shine” (line 3) in this poem, brighter than they would at any memorial. Shakespeare tells us that neither of the images in line 1 will uphold the legacy of the speaker’s beloved as this poem will (line 2). This idea of infinite legacy causes a break in the iambic pentameter (the typical rhythmic pattern of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55), in order to express the frenzy the speaker feels about the subject’s legacy. Shakespeare’s use of a spondee in line 2 for the phrase “out live,” shows us how important the poem’s subject is to the reader. “Marble” and “gilded monuments of princes” (line 1) both make the remind readers of those who have served their people so well, that they were honored through monuments and statues. He uses variations in meter, well-thought out diction, alliteration, and imagery, in order to create for the reader a sense of the subject’s importance and to preserve their honor.Īs Shakespeare begins Sonnet 55, he automatically gives the reader images of two things are used to honor people of importance. He insists that the poem will serve as part of his loved one’s legacy, even after they have long left the Earth. In Sonnet 55, Shakespeare writes to honor a loved one who has passed one. Contemporary usage of the eulogy at funerals, or even a valediction in the case of some well-known figures is an example of how the tradition of words has honored the lives and legacies of those who have passed. Honoring those who have passed has often been done most effectively through the power of words.

You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes. So till the judgment that yourself arise, 13 That wear this world out to the ending doom. Shall you pace forth your praise shall still find room 10 Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn 7 When wasteful war shall statues overturn, 5Īnd broils root out the work of masonry, 6 Than unswept stone besmeared with sluttish time.

Of princes shall out live this powerful rhyme, 2īut you shall shine more bright in these contents 3