Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The action in the sonnets is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
The sonnets are written in an iambic pentameter.
Metaphors and Similes
We find a metaphor in the 19th sonnet, which has the title "When I consider how my light is spent". The main metaphor is the light described by the narrator. In this context, light is used as a metaphor for a person's vitality and power. As a person ages, this light slowly fades until it eventually burns out completely when a person dies.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the poem "Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son" in the line "Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire".
Irony
N/A
Genre
Collection of sonnets
Setting
Because most of the sonnets are meditative ones, there is no fixed setting mentioned. Instead, the action seems to take place outside time and space.
Tone
The tone used in the sonnets is a reverential one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist in the poem "When I consider how my light is spent" is the light and the antagonist is darkness.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the sonnet "Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son", is between young age and old age.
Climax
The poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth" reaches its climax when the narrator reaches the end of time.
Foreshadowing
The death of the character about which the narrator talks about in the poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth" is foreshadowed from the first line when the narrator describes time as being a thief.
Understatement
We find an understatement at the beginning of the poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth". There, the narrator claims that one should not be afraid of time passing. This is later disproved in the later lines.
Allusions
The main allusion in the poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth" is the idea that a person can never reach absolute truth.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The bird is used in the poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth" as a general term to make reference to the passing of time.
Personification
We have a personification in the poem "How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth" in the line "The truth deceived me".
Hyperbole
We have a hyperbole in the poem "Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire" in the line "The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire".
Onomatopoeia
We have an onomatopoeia in the line "That murmur, soon replies" in the poem "When I consider how my light is spent".
