Essay on the Rival Poet from Shakespeares Sonnets -- Sonnet essays

Identifying of the refer Poet from Shakespeares Sonnets wholeness of the intriguing aspects of Shakespeares Sonnets is the identity of the principal characters within them, the Young Man, the Dark Lady, and the Rival Poet. Nowhere are these citizenry explicitly identified and their anonymity has spawned such(prenominal) debate as to who these people could have been. The content of the Sonnets that refer to these people however, undoubtedly show that these were indeed real people. The Rival Poet was the cause of open anxiety to Shakespeare. A poet depended on patronage to finance the publication of his work so a rival presents a real threat of injury of income through loss of patronage as well as the sea captain and personal feelings of rejection, loss of esteem and a competitor being seen to crystallise favour instead of oneself. The sonnets that refer to the Rival Poet appear to contain sufficient data to enable the rival to be identified The Rival Poet who carr y throughs pen is first mentioned in Sonnet 21 "So is it not with me as with that muse Stirred by a painted beauty to his measure" and goes on to say "Making a couplement of proud compare" This dampen of the sonnet is open to several interpretations but it may be explicitly referring to George Chapmans use of English couplet rhymes in his epic translation of Homers Odysseys "The Gods in council sit, to call Ulysses from Calypsos thrall, And order their high pleasures thus Grey Pallas to Telemachus (In Ithaca) her focus addrest And did her heavenly limbs invest..." The heavenly subject matter of Chapmans verse would appear to correlate with Sonnet 21s "Who heaven itself for ornament doth use" The fin... ...f the Sonnets, there was a assemblage of poets called The School of iniquity, also called The School of Atheisme in a 1592 reference, that was led by Raleigh and included Marlowe and Chapman. This group is apparently parodie d in Loves Labours Lost queen mole rat "Black is the badge of hell, The hue of dungeons and the school of night And beautys crest becomes the heavens well." Chapman also wrote a verse named The Shadow of Night whose title and subject matter fits in well with Chapmans involvement with this group. Finally, George Chapman did write verse dedicated to the Earl of Southampton who was also Shakespeares patron. Although the identity of the Rival Poet is not conclusive, the secular within the Rival Poet sonnets and the contemporary activity of George Chapman does, in my view, converge to tear down to George Chapman being the man.