Sonnet 33 is one of William Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, and it represents one of the most outstanding lyrical expressions from English poetry. The poem is about a young girl’s declaration of love for a man, and it displays the power of applying natural beauty as a human emotional symbol. The author exhibits passion by presenting objects that highlight the intensity of the expressed feelings. Additionally, the extended metaphor which equates to fair youth intends to emphasize the young man’s beauty by revealing that he shines as brightly as the heavenly sun. Additionally, the comparison of the sun with sovereign eye suggests royalty or nobility. Furthermore, the words golden and alchemy reinforce the association with status and wealth.
The most significant aspect about the poem is that it uses nature to pass information across. In the fourth line, the author describes the glorious morning as a gilding pale stream with heavenly alchemy. Since gilding entails covering with gold, it is evident that the sun performs a type of divine alchemy by transforming the pale steam waters into gold. Another natural feature that the author applies is the clouds. In line 5, he observes that the basest clouds have overtaken the sky. Ordinarily, the base is metal, and so the phrase could be an indication of a dull moment overshadowing the previous glitter. The sonnet’s final couplet also signifies the return to the poet’s devotion to the lord.
However, interpreting it from the love context could also signify some dangerous aspect ahead. The mentioning of stain in the last sentence could signify an impurity that might destroy the right character. The sentiments further appear when the author observed that although the fair lord used to shine brilliantly, his face is now invisible due to an ugly rack of clouds. The author reinforces the idea of stealing to describe how the overcast sun moves across the sky. Therefore, the stain is a symbol of a bad omen or catastrophe that may befall the young man due to engaging in immoral practices. The phrase Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace is an indicator of someone who feels rejected and shameful and waits for the most opportune time when no one is watching to flee. However, she gains comfort from the fact that at one point, her life was good.
It is crucial to analyze Quatrain 1 and two together because they are in one sentence. In the eight lines of the quatrains, the patterned adjectives help in constructing an elegant metaphor of the sun as a noble countenance. In the first quatrain, the narrator compares the young man with the natural beauty, particularly the meadows and sun while the second quatrain exhibits a moral or internal struggle for the narrator due to the discovery that the young man is not loyal. Phrases like ugly, rack, basest clouds and stealing reveal the narrator’s hurt and feelings towards the young man’s promiscuity and indicate that a moral lapse has taken place. The couplet feature is evident in the part where the author replaces the innocent weather and sun with a moral stain which injures both parties irreversibly. Therefore, the sun or stain is a form of superficial approach with a final line of excusing a lover’s crime. As such, the couplet offers resistance to the reader. While the sonnet's octave highlights the good old days, the sestet reveals that the narrator has resigned to fate. Moreover, a turn appears when the narrator suddenly realizes that she has no move on with life and forget about the young man who has hurt her. It is evident in the ninth line when she observes that regardless of the hurt, her sun did shine before. The sonnet is Petrarchan because its volt appears in the ninth line, just after the octaves eighth line.
Part 2-The Most Important Words
Although sonnet 33 has many phrases, several are more captivating and enable a better understanding of the matter under scrutiny. One most important areas that enhanced the poems deeper understanding was the third line. A glance at the first two sentences would not have revealed the main intent if the poem but on reaching the third one, it was evident that the narrator was talking about matters concerning love. Although the poems starts by highlighting glorious mornings that flatter the mountain tops, introducing the third line was a sign of feeling deeper than the superficial introduction. Therefore, reading down further brought the revelation of someone who was once in love that no longer exists. The word basest clouds were also paramount in bringing more light to what was happening. Initially, the narrator had talked about a glorious morning and lighting up of the mountain. Such descriptions could only signify joy, hope and bright life.
Introducing the darkest clouds indicates that young lady was facing a challenging situation. Despite being happy before, a dark phase emerged and made her life miserable. Line 8 was also vital in understanding the poem. It suggests that the sun was stealing unseen to the west with disgrace. Initially, the author had likened her boyfriend to the bright sun that would reflect golden rays upon her life. However, it dimmed after the basest clouds emerged and were now using the opportunity of overcast clouds to flee to the west. This line reveals that the male lover might also have suffered and was undergoing shame and disgrace after what he had done. As such, he wanted to hide before people could notice what had occurred to him.
The words my sun one early morning did shine emphasize the reality that the young girl has to face. It is a kind of awakening after being in denial for some time. She realizes that despite what has happened, she was once in love and has a good life that brought a glorious splendor to her face. A scrutiny of this phase made it easy to understand that the relationship between the young lovers was finally over. Line 11 also gave hints about the loss that the girl was experiencing. She reveals that the sun, which she uses to address the lover was hers for only one hour. Therefore, it is evident that the young man was unfaithful and had many women in his life. Finally, the stain was a significant word in the sonnet. After analyzing and comprehending the other parts of the story, it is easy to conclude that the stain is a predicament that might befall the sun (lover) after leaving the young girl and engaging in promiscuous activities. The continued misbehaving has brought trouble in his life and has led to his decision of fleeing when no one is watching. The narrator concludes by observing that if the sun in heaven can become overcast due to the presence of clouds, the worldly ones are not an exception. Although all the lines in the sonnet are vital identifying the most significant ones enables the reader to connect the events quickly.
