Point of View

The point of view for all sonnets is subjective—the emotions and experiences of the poet as lover, sometimes exuberant, sometimes despairing, always passionate often to the point of obsession. In many poems, the point of view is very narrow and personal as Shakespeare reflects the intensity of romantic love. He often assumes the point of view of a worshiper, or even a slave, to his beloved. In other verses, his vision leaps from the immediate situation to encompass time itself as he ruminates on the meaning of birth, youth, old age and death. Although most of the poems vibrate with the fever of love, some are more philosophical, as in Sonnet 30:

"When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear...