Sonnet 104 Marking Guideline

Poetry Pack: IEB HL 2023ff To me, fair friend, you never can be old (Sonnet 104) ~ William Shakespeare Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, most of them addressed to a ‘friend’. Over the centuries, people have tried to work out who this mysterious W.H. could be; the only certainty is that W.H. was a man. The sonnets are very personal and sincere. Before you read the sonnet, discuss or think about TIME. What is your experience of it? Do you find that it moves steadily along at the same pace, or does it vary? Why? If you see a person regularly (e.g. every day) do you notice any physical changes in that person? Compare this with the way you observe a person whom you only see very seldom (e.g. once a year). 1. Read line 2. Shakespeare has chosen to say ‘when first your eye I eyed’ instead of ‘when first I saw you’. Discuss the difference between the two statements. Does Shakespeare’s version give more information? If so, what? 2. Which word in lines 1–3 indicates that Shakespeare knew that his view of his friend’s unchanging beauty is not strictly true? 3. 3.1 How long has Shakespeare known this friend? 3.2 Shakespeare uses almost five lines (lines 3–7) describing the seasons. In doing this, what does he show about time and nature? Use quotes to support your answer. 4. ‘Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green’ (line 8). Explain what the underlined words mean and how they are linked to lines 3–7. 5. A change occurs in line 9, introduced by the word ‘Ah’. What is the TONE of the word? 6. How does the simile in lines 9 and 10 help to explain the facts that Shakespeare must face and acknowledge that his eye is deceived? 7. In the rhyming couplet (lines 13–14), Shakespeare tells generations to come (including us) that we will never see beauty like this because ‘beauty’s summer’ will be ‘dead’. Comment on the effectiveness of the word ‘summer’ in the context of the whole poem. 8. A Shakespearean sonnet is carefully structured into 14 lines, divided into 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet. How does the subject matter of sonnet 104 fit into this pattern i.e. what is the main idea of each part? Glossary process – like a procession, one following the other a dial hand – the hour hand on a clock figure – 1. The number on the clock face; 2. The young appearance (face) of the friend age unbred – those people still to be born (such as us!) © Macrat Publishing Poetry Pack: IEB HL 2023ff SUGGESTED ANSWERS: To me, fair friend, you … 1. The second statement is very straightforward – it merely conveys the fact that Shakespeare saw his friend for the first time, it is rather impersonal. The first statement gives more information: it is immediately more personal and adds a degree of intimacy – his eye catches the eye of his friend, indicating that his look is returned, it is a two-way exchange. 2. ‘seems’ 3. 3.1 Three years 3.2 By describing the seasonal cycle, Shakespeare is showing how time affects all nature – and so his friend should also be affected. ‘beauteous’ and perfumed spring turns into summer, full of ‘pride’ (fullness of growth) and heat; then comes ‘yellow autumn’ and finally ‘winters cold’. He has not noticed any change in his friend’s appearance, but nature has been through this cycle three times since they first met. 4. ‘Fresh’ indicates both the newness of their friendship and the youth of the ‘fair friend’. ‘Green’ also indicates fresh youth (or innocence), like spring in the seasonal cycle. Link to the connotation of youthful vitality and spontaneity. 5. A tone of regret or sadness. 6. In this simile the way an hour hand moves around the face of a clock is compared to the way time affects the face of his friend. The hour hand moves imperceptibly, but it does move, time cannot stand still. So, too, must Shakespeare accept the fact that his friend is affected by time (getting older) although it happens so slowly he does not notice it, especially since he sees the person regularly. 7. ‘beauty’s summer’ suggests the peak or height of beauty, when it has developed into rich fullness; but it also indicates that its ‘pride’ (Link to splendour /magnificence of youth) will be shaken by ‘winters’ cold’. It effectively extends the metaphor begun in the first two quatrains and ties the sections of the sonnet more closely together. 8. The first quatrain describes that the fair friend’s beauty will remain unchanged forever. The second quatrain makes the claim that unlike nature which is affected by the passing of time (seasons), the fair friend has not shown any change in three years’ time. The third quatrain emphasises that Time cannot stand still; although the change may be imperceptible, everything eventually is affected by the passing of time. Shakespeare is aware that time passes and so his friend is ageing imperceptibly. The rhyming couplet contains Shakespeare’s claim that future generations will never know the epitome of beauty because his “fair friend’s beauty” will remain unrivalled for all time. © Macrat Publishing