For Wednesday: “My Name is Will” (The ‘Dark Lady’ Sonnets): Nos. 127, 129, 130, 135, 136, 138 (and 138a), 144
Answer TWO of the following…
1. In general, what is the poet’s relationship with the “dark
lady,” his mistress? Does he talk about
love differently with a woman than with a man?
Is this love sexual—or also idealistic/platonic? How does she inspire him? How might these poems be different in subject
or tone than the previous ones?
2. Discuss the differences between Sonnets 138 and 138a:
what makes them slightly different poems?
What words/images/tones change?
Which poem do you prefer and why?
3. Sonnet 130, like 18 and 116, lays claim to being one of
the most famous poems in the world, to say nothing of The Sonnets. How might, in
some ways, this poem be a response to Sonnet 18 and a way of speaking of love
more honestly and less idealistically?
Do you find it a more or less flattering love poem than 18 (or similar
poems)?
4. Sonnet 144 (and a few others) suggest the presence of
the young man in the background. If so,
what has happened to the love triangle encountered earlier in the
sequence? How does the poet balance his
feelings for each lover, and is this poem at all misogynistic (as some critics
have claimed)?
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