Second, interpretation:
Most of Shakespeare's contemporaries dedicated sonnets to their lovers. Some of Shakespeare's poems were dedicated to a girl he called dark skin, but only 25 of them, and another 65,438+000 sonnets were dedicated to a young friend. Thus, in Shakespeare's sonnets, friendship seems to have a higher position than love. This is not surprising. At that time, the psychology of valuing friends over color was very common. It is in this state of mind that friendship is supreme that Shakespeare praised friendship as the most beautiful and priceless wealth in life in the form of poetry.
In Shakespeare's sonnets, there have been different opinions about who the young friend involved in the first part is. It is generally believed that he is Shakespeare's only patron, the Earl of Southampton.
After presenting two long poems, Shakespeare had a soft spot for sonnets, so he wrote them to Southampton, where his friendship grew deeper and deeper. Besides expressing feelings through poetry, Shakespeare's other purpose is more urgent. The Earl of Southampton is young and handsome, but he doesn't want his marriage to get into trouble, and his mother wants his son to get married and have children as soon as possible to ensure the prosperity of the family. So the countess entrusted Shakespeare with persuasion, and a group of sonnets with the theme of urging an early family was born. But young people often ignore the advice of the elderly, which leads to anger and regret.
Southampton's later experience proved this point:1In February 598, the restless Southampton had an affair with Elizabeth Vernon, the queen's maid, which led to her pregnancy and forced her to get married. The queen always shows no mercy to those who destroy the chastity of her maids. Southampton may be afraid of punishment and leave his pregnant wife for continental Europe. In Paris, he gambled in a tennis match and lost penniless. He had to return to London after his wife gave birth to a daughter in June 5438 +065438+ 10. From this point of view, if Southampton had accepted Shakespeare's suggestion, he would not have fallen into such a mess if he had climbed into the marriage of his relatives step by step and revived his family business.