SONNET ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

The first four lines of Sonnet 29 could be paraphrased as —

• when I think about how much I miss my beloved . . .

• when I sit alone and feel sorry for myself and my bad luck . . .

• when I get into a fight with my friends and we curse one another . . .

• when I make a fortune and don’t know what to do with it . . .

In lines 5–7 of Sonnet 29 the speaker wishes for some of the things other people have. Which of the following things does he not mention?

• Money

• Artistic ability

• Power

• Popularity

The speaker rouses himself out of his sadness by —

• remembering that he is able to write fine poetry

• recalling good times he has had with his friends

• summoning his family around the fire

• thinking of the person he loves

In lines 10–12, the speaker compares a bird at daybreak to his —

• beloved

• body

• mood

• poetry

Sonnet 29 concludes with a feeling of —

• jealousy

• doom

• doubt

• happiness

“When to the sessions of sweet silent thought / I summon up remembrance of things past” means —

• When I think about the past . . .

• When I try to forget the past . . .

• When I have to go to court . . .

• When I behave more sweetly than I feel inside . . .

What kind of sorrow does the speaker think about in line 3 of Sonnet 30 when he says, “I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought”?

• Sorrow over things he wanted but never got

• Sorrow over things he got but let slip through his fingers

• Sorrow over how few opportunities he has had in life

• Sorrow over riches that have lost their appeal

In Sonnet 30, the speaker laments departed friends. However, he is cheered when thinking —

• that they really weren’t such great friends after all

• that they will return someday

• of the friend the poem is addressed to

• all the friends he has now

The metaphors in Sonnet 30 come mostly from the fields of —

• war and shipping

• law and finance

• poetry and journalism

• religion and science

The main subject of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets is —

• love

• art

• tragedy

• the self