Shakespeare’s

Sonnet 8
By Ava Isola and Aaron
Aiwohi-Junnila
Contemporary Sonnet
Why do you treat life like there is no music?
Strings are being strummed and feet are tapping,
These harmonies should be therapeutic.
Drums are being drummed and hands are clapping.
If the harmony of beautiful sounds,
Made by families displeases your ear,
To eternal singleness, you are bound
There will be no singing for you to hear.
The two close strings of mother and father,
Vibrate in union through life together.
For a sweet note your ears will not bother,
Though you cannot grasp it, the gist is simpler.
If forever in life you shall be free;
Then very lonesome you will always be.
Senryu
Your pessimism Love is like music.
Deprives you of happiness. Beautiful, lively music.
Why do you let it? You cannot hear it.

Why are you single? You’re proving a point.

Marriage is harmonious. There is no point to prove.
You are wasting time. Your life is fading.
Meme
Cartoon
Analysis - Ava
In Sonnet 8, by William Shakespeare, a young man is deaf to the euphonious sounds of love: it is a point that proves nothing.
Shakespeare's use of melodious imagery and soft sound devices depict how the speaker views marriage. The lyrical assonance
in the line, “Who all in one, one pleasing note do sing”, the sound of the “O” gives the readers a lovely tone of song. This song
represents the sound of love, and marriage, which the young man turns away from. In line seven, the speaker says, “They do but
sweetly chide thee, who confounds”, the imagery of “sweetly chide” gives a motherly image, that's almost comforting. Also, the
assonance of the sound “ee”, has a musical sound, as to enhance the metaphor of music. In the final line, the assonance of the
“o” sound, and the metaphor of the family singing as one, causes whoever reads this poem to imagine someone singing the
finals words of, “‘Thou single wilt prove none’”. This makes one think as to why the subject should stay single, when there is the
option to having a family. The poem's conclusion seems so final, for the whole poem was so soft and lyrical. The abrupt end
shows how the decision of staying single is taken with the speaker. This decision is a cold and lifeless decision, which is contrast
to the harmony of love and marriage and children. Overall, the poet and the subject are at a disagreement. Whether the poet is
a family member, or just a friend with some advice, he believes it would be best for the subject to get married, have children,
and live happily ever after. The subject turns away from this, and, to the speaker, is deaf to the harmonies of marriage. The
subject’s life, according to the poet, will come to a cold, and abrupt end, as he has nothing to really live for.
Analysis - Aaron
Throughout Sonnet 8, the speaker is telling a young man to grow up and have a family: the young man will live the rest of
his life wallowing in his own sadness if he does not find a partner. This sonnet written by William Shakespeare, uses powerful
and thoughtful diction. Potent imagery is shown in line 3, “Why lov’st thou that which thou reciev’st not gladly.” This dismal
imagery depicts how much pain the young person is causing themselves. The speaker is asking the young man why they enjoy
things that bring them such pain. The speaker is telling them that if they do not enjoy music played well, it is because they are
not playing the melody of a family. Without the melody of a family, one is not truly living. The first twelve lines of this sonnet
compare youth and music. The speaker is saying that the young man should get married quickly, because soon they will be
forever alone. The speaker says that father, mother, and child are the symbol of perfect harmony. Shakespeare uses precise
sound devices to show how the young man is but a single note in a song without a family. “Who all in one, one pleasing note do
sing.” The speaker is telling the young man that they will never be whole without a partner and child. He will become lonesome
without a partner.