Kjeldsen 1

Aiden Kjeldsen

Mrs. Gardener

Hon English 10, 6 per

6 September 2016

Sonnet 14 Analysis

William Shakespeare challenges societys vain pursuits in attempts to foretell the future:

he argues that one cannot predict the future in the stars, but can come to understand the future

through knowledge. His use of astrological language and planetary diction in Sonnet 14 are used

to portray the poet's struggle with predicting the future in the stars. From the very beginning in

lines one and two, the poet asserts the astronomical terminology that he will continue to use

throughout the sonnet in saying, Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck, And yet methinks

I have astronomy. These lines leave an heir of planetary diction using the words from the

stars, but brings it back to earth with the phrase methinks I have astronomy. Even though the

poet has been trained to tell the future from the stars, he could not do so if he tried. In line nine

of the poem the poet states, But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive. The poet concludes he

does not need astrology to predict the future. All he needs is to see a young man's eyes. From

these he is able to comprehend truth, art, and beauty. In the end, the poet states that using

astrology is much too difficult to tell the future; in fact, he states the simplest way to

understanding a person is by looking them in the eyes. Shakespeare concludes in the sonnet that

if one does not have any lineage, then they will cease to be remembered.