1609, Thomas Thorpe published the first Shakespeare sonnet. Although this collection of poems is probably a "pirated edition" published without the author's consent, we still want to thank Mr. Thorpe for his original intention and courage. It is said that Shakespeare's sonnets were copied privately as soon as they were written. Thorpe had collected and arranged it everywhere for a long time, so he got a lot of manuscripts. Once, someone gave him a box of Shakespeare's sonnets, and he was very grateful. Finally, Thorpe got his wish and became the publisher of the first Shakespeare sonnets. In his dedication, he wrote: "Dedicated to Mr. W.H., the sole initiator of the following sonnets. At the time of publication, well-meaning adventurers wished him happiness and enjoyed the eternal reputation promised by our immortal poet. T. t. 10 "here are the abbreviations of two names. "T.T." is the initials of ThomasThorpe and has been recognized by Shakespeare researchers. So, who does Mr. W.H. refer to? Thorpe, of course, didn't expect that the two letters he wrote easily triggered complicated textual research and heated debates for later generations. Some people think that W.H. refers to William Herbert, Earl of pembroke, who may be a patron of Shakespeare. Others say it's the Earl of Southampton, because his original name is HenryWriothesley. More whimsical speculation. For example, a Shakespeare professor at Harvard University in the United States wrote a book to prove that Mr. W.H. refers to William Halliver, the playboy of London Law School, while the British aesthetic writer Wilde pointed out that this person refers to a young actor named Will Hughes. It is said that this collection of poems is the most controversial in English poetry, and its focus is not only on Mr. W.H., but also on the theme of this poem.
Shakespeare's sonnets have attracted many readers throughout the ages, mainly because of the "sweetness" of his poems, that is, they praise the best feelings in the world-friendship and love. Poetry mainly involves three characters: poet, "young friend" and "dark girl". 154 The poem is roughly divided into two parts. The first part, from 127 to 152, is dedicated to the "dark girl". The latter two poems have nothing to do with the above themes, such as the translation or imitation of Greek aphorisms. Shakespeare's sonnets mainly praise friendship, express love and express the poet's life ideal.
For more than 300 years, Shakespeare's researchers and biographers have the same regret, that is, this outstanding figure did not leave any autobiography, diary or letter, which is far behind. However, in his Sonnets, the poet devoted himself sincerely, praised friendship and expressed love, and injected deep personal feelings, which made people wonder whether this collection of poems, like many other literary works, would have autobiographical elements of the author. Therefore, some specific plots involved in each poem are studied, such as who is the young friend in the poem, who is the black woman mentioned after 127, and what is her relationship with the poet? The biggest question is, are these plots Shakespeare's own experiences? For these problems, scholars and literati of past dynasties have done a lot of textual research and put forward many conjectures, and so far they have complained. In this regard, it is cautiously pointed out that the artist's creation is not equal to life itself. In the process of creation, imagination often condenses and melts everything, and some textual research scholars are too interested in details, which may not help to understand the value of the work. Nevertheless, most critics still affirm that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical, as Wordsworth, an English "lakeside" poet in the19th century, said, "With this key, Shakespeare opened his heart." By tone, he means sonnets. The author thinks that the debate about this collection of poems is irrelevant, and people should pay attention to his own ideological strength and artistic strength, but here we might as well use this key, believing that it has a certain autobiographical color, so as to approach Shakespeare's vague personal life and try to enter his emotional world.
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, because the psychology of friendship first was very common at that time. John Riley, a "great scholar", clearly stated in his play Endymion (159 1): "Is the extraordinary wife of Zhuo Zhuo Zhuo more powerful than the true loyalty of a friend in need? Men's love for women is a common and natural thing, while men's friendship for men is infinite and immortal ... The difference between beauty and virtue, body and soul, seaweed and natural vitality is as big as that between Love & Friendship ... Friendship stands firm in the storm. The world has carved wrinkles on beautiful faces, but it has given loyal friendship more and fresher colors. No matter how cold it is, no matter how rich or poor, no fate can change friendship. " It seems that 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 are always different opinions about who the young friends involved in the first part are. As far as editors are concerned, they tend to think that this young friend is Shakespeare's only patron-the Earl of Southampton. After submitting two long poems, Shakespeare had a soft spot for sonnets, so he wrote them to Southampton, whose friendship with him deepened day by day. 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 Sally.
Shi Biya's persuasion gave birth to a group of sonnets with the theme of urging an early family. 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 wife of the Queen, 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 have climbed into the marriage of high relatives step by step and revived his family business, he would not have fallen into such a mess.
If we can see the poet's emotional world from the sonnets, then this world is a world of truth, goodness and beauty. In these poems praising friendship and love, the poet put forward the highest standard of life he advocated: truth, goodness and beauty and their combination: "truth, goodness and beauty are our themes;" Truth, goodness and beauty become different words; My creativity was used in this change, and the three problems were combined to produce a magnificent scene. Truth, goodness and beauty were irrelevant in the past, but now, it is really a space for three people to sit together. "The first 105 sonnet can be regarded as the finale and conclusion of the whole poetry collection, and it is a key for us to understand the essence of Shakespeare's sonnet thought. At this time, Shakespeare was young and in his prime. He is full of beautiful expectations for life and society, and also firmly believes in the ideal of humanism. He wants enthusiastic praise and persistent pursuit of a true and pure feeling, a feeling of unity of truth, goodness and beauty, whether it is friendship or love.
Shakespeare's sonnets are a dazzling pearl in the world poetry treasure house. Although Shakespeare's poetic talent is only a small experiment in these poems, it shows dazzling colors. These sonnets not only show a humanist's ideal and view of truth, goodness and beauty, but also show the disappointment and anxiety caused by the disharmony between people. It can be said that they are not only personal lyricism, but also express an era. In addition to strong feelings, there are profound thoughts in Shakespeare's sonnets, which reflect his progressive outlook on life and art. On the basis of denying asceticism and theocracy in the dark ages of the Middle Ages, these thoughts praised human personality, declared human equality, endowed people and life with new content and significance, and reached the highest level of humanistic democratic thought in the European Renaissance.
We should also pay attention to other characteristics of Shakespeare's sonnets, which are understood by scholars, but his poems have realism and market interest that other scholars do not have. He has a rich life experience and a profound sense of hardship, and at the same time he has an optimistic spirit, which enables him to stay awake and balanced. Shakespeare is by no means a bitter poet. He is always witty, as Dryden said in later generations: "As long as the opportunity is extraordinary, he can be extraordinary, and he will never write much more than other poets." Shakespeare's language skills are superb, and his language can be gorgeous as a cloud and pure as water. In addition, he is also very sensitive to phonology and created his own poetic rhyme, namely the famous "Shakespeare rhyme". Shakespeare's poetic language is very musical and beautiful to read, so it is called "sweet".
In a word, Shakespeare skillfully used Shanglai's poetic style with amazing artistic expression. In 154 sonnets, he shows a broad ideological world. The vivid images, rich vocabulary, clever language and sonorous intonation in the poem are outstanding. Edmund spenser, known as the poet leader, had to admire and say: "We can't find a more beautiful poet than him; His muse is full of beautiful ideas, and like himself, he shouts heroically. " Among the English sonnets, Shakespeare's sonnets are a peak, and his sweet poems have a lofty position not only in the treasure house of English lyric poems, but also in the treasure house of world lyric poems.