The sonnet form, unlike a novel or a tweet, has a structure that is rigid and usually has a theme of love. Sonnets try to solve problems. Though there are some differences between the sonnet, the novel, and the tweet, they share similarities as well. All three forms seek to tell a story, usually in a sequence. The tweet, similar to a sonnet, provides short sequential snapshots into the author’s life. However, tweets are informal and can be quick to write. Novels are also like sonnets in the sense that they try to tell a story, but unlike sonnets, novelists are given more elaborate upon details. In their different forms, sonnets, tweets, and novels definitely come with different expectations. The tone, format, content are different, but the similarity they all share is the ability to tell a story.
In “Sonnet 75”, Spenser uses the sonnet form to express a problem. His use of the words “Not so” in line 9 and “but” in line 10, along with the couplet at the end of the sonnet gives a sense of a solution or end to the problem that he poses in the beginning. In his sonnet, he tells of how his unrelenting profession of love is rejected time and time again by his lover. However, he does not give up and he chooses a different path: to “write her name in the heavens”. He informs us that he does not choose rejection in his words in line 9 and 10. In the couplet, he explains that in the heavens, death is “subdew” and his love shall live and be renewed. As he explains, his love will live. My interpretation is that he is saying that his love will live forever, as he says “later life renew”. There is a sense of end here, but it is not one that just stops. It is one that has hope in the future where his love will be renewed.
I like how you list the examples of writing in order so the readers can compare them really well. The comparison between them is very detailed. I especially like the “short sequential snapshots” imagery when describing the tweet. The idea of developing one description upon another is also nice. All of them do have the “ability to tell a story” but it also depends on how you use them. I agree with you on the your interpretation of the sonnet in that his love will live on forever but I also understand that his lover’s name will live on forever through his poetry. Overall, a very good blog post.
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