A tornado passed by Saturday night and we were without power most of Sunday. Living closer to nature has made me stronger as nature doesn’t pull any punches. The plan for today was to visit a business looking for a greenhouse and chicken coop, instead we’ll be using today to rest after yesterday was more work than expected. The business has a website and looks like we can buy them online anyway, we’re not getting anything fancy. My last greenhouse was plastic over some hoops and that worked great. For chickens I don’t know what I’m getting into, they are part of getting closer to nature. Speaking of, while walking around yesterday I saw on the forest floor among all the broken branches some antlers, they seemed freshly discarded. Here’s Shakespeare from next Saturday’s podcast.
Sonnet 8 uses comparisons with music and marriage, chiding a young man for choosing to be single. Along with the music metaphors, I noticed a lot of sweet stuff.
*”Music to hear” isn’t it? “Why hear’st thou music sadly?” This music is like the song of life, there is an order to the circle of life, circle for instance is a shape. By living, you enjoy much life has to offer, not paying it forward seems as though something has gone wrong.
*”Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:” If life is sweet then keep it going, if joyful then spread the joy. This line seems like a good place to cover the saying, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” It means be happy not jealous when one is lifted up because as one goes all follow.
*”Why lov’st thou that which thou receiv’st not gladly” This seems like the young man is clinging to his single life, but why is he so attached to that life without fulfilling it’s role. Not moving forward is receiving it not gladly.
*”or else receiv’st with pleasure thine annoy” that “or else” is a logical statement, he’s claiming you receiv’st not gladly or you receive with pleasure something that annoys you. Same concept as before, happy to receive some parts of life not the whole.
*”If the concord of well-tuned sounds” we’re getting into the musical accompaniment now. Concord means agreement or harmony between people or groups. We also know the sweet concord grapes. Harmony of well-tuned sounds.
*”by unions married, do offend thin ear” This single line can be seen as the main subject of the sonnet, marriage offend thin ear. If putting music together doesn’t sound good to you then
*”they do but sweetly chide thee.” Chide means scold or rebuke, remember rebuke is disapproval. “Who confounds in singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.” Confound means confuse. If marriage offends thin ear, marriage itself will prove your ideas wrong leaving the single person confused as to what their role in life should now be. What are you going to do for the next 20, 40, 60 years? Party? Make a great work of art? That won’t make you happy and fill a hole in your soul. There was also an ABAB rhyme with sound, ear, confound, and bear. Sound/ear is part of the musical metaphor.
*”Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,” Mark, take notice and husband is word play with the married notes.
*”Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;” I take this like the circle of life, one thing leads to another and all in it’s time.
*”Resembling sire and child and happy mother, who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:” sire is dad, so mom, dad, and child play together as a chord of music would the individuals come together to make a new sound.
*”Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,” speechless song seems to me when we say there are many meanings, more being said that isn’t said. “Many, seeming one” we covered last week E pluribus unum, out of many, one, written on the United States’ great seal.
*”Sings this to thee: thou single wilt prove none” We’ve seen a lot how the last one or two lines will summarize the sonnet or drive home a particular point, his point is to not remain single.
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