When combined with the third word, increase (which meant, among its pertinent definitions, вЂњprocreation,вЂќ вЂњbreeding,вЂќ вЂњoffspring,вЂќ вЂњa child,вЂќ вЂњcrops,вЂќ and вЂњfruitвЂќ), the word creatures takes the readerвЂ™s mind to Genesis 1.28 and GodвЂ™s instructions to humankind to multiply and be fruitful, while the plant-life connotation of all three of the words provides a context for later words in the sonnet, such as rose, famine, abundance, spring, and bud. (The negative class implications of outdoor labor carried in the sonnets by вЂњdarkвЂќ or вЂњtannedвЂќ are carried today in the label вЂњredneck.вЂќ) The second word, creatures, had several meanings, referring, for example, to everything created by God, including the plant kingdom, while in some contexts referring specifically to human beings. In ShakespeareвЂ™s day, the word fair primarily meant вЂњbeautiful,вЂќ but it had recently also picked up the meaning of вЂњblondвЂќ and вЂњfair-skinned.вЂќ In this opening line of Sonnet 1, the meaning вЂњblondвЂќ is probably not operative (though it becomes extremely pertinent when the word fair is used in later sonnets), but the aristocratic (or upper-class) implications of вЂњfair-skinnedвЂќ are very much to the point (or so argues Margreta de Grazia see Further Reading), since upper-class gentlemen and ladies need not work out of doors and expose their skins to wind and sun. In the opening line of the first sonnet (вЂњFrom fairest creatures we desire increaseвЂќ), each of the words fairest, creatures, and increase carries multiple relevant senses when these combine with each other, the range of significations in this single line is enormous. It is in large part through choosing words that carry more than one pertinent meaning that Shakespeare packs into each sonnet almost incalculable richness of thought and imagery. In a later line in the same sonnet (вЂњWithin thine own bud buriest thy contentвЂќ ), the fact that thy content means both (1) вЂњthat which is contained within you, specifically, your seed, that with which you should produce a child,вЂќ and (2) вЂњyour happinessвЂќ enables the line to say, in a highly compressed fashion, that by refusing to propagate, refusing to have a child, the young man is destroying his own future well-being. In line 5 of the first sonnet, for example, the word contracted means вЂњbound by contract, bethrothed,вЂќ but it also carries the sense of вЂњlimited, shrunken.вЂќ Its double meaning enables the phrase вЂњcontracted to thine own bright eyesвЂќ to say succinctly to the young man not only that he has betrothed himself to his own good looks but that he has also thereby become a more limited person. The most significant feature of ShakespeareвЂ™s word choice in the Sonnets is his use of words in which multiple meanings function simultaneously. In the first three sonnets, for example, we find only used where we might say вЂњpeerlessвЂќ or вЂњpreeminent,вЂќ gaudy used to mean вЂњbrilliantly fine,вЂќ weed where we would say вЂњgarment,вЂќ glass where we would say вЂњmirror,вЂќ and fond where we would say вЂњfoolish.вЂќ Somewhat more common in the Sonnets are words that are still in use but that in ShakespeareвЂ™s day had meanings that are no longer current. Among the more than a thousand words that make up the first ten sonnets, for instance, only eleven are not to be found in current usage: self-substantial (вЂњderived from oneвЂ™s own substanceвЂќ), niggarding (вЂњbeing miserlyвЂќ), unfair (вЂњdeprive of beautyвЂќ), leese (вЂњloseвЂќ), happies (вЂњmakes happyвЂќ), steep-up (вЂњprecipitousвЂќ), highmost (вЂњhighestвЂќ), hap (вЂњhappenвЂќ), unthrift (вЂњspendthriftвЂќ), unprovident (вЂњimprovidentвЂќ), and ruinate (вЂњreduce to ruinsвЂќ). One surprising feature of the Sonnets is how rarely such archaic words appear. Some are words that are no longer in general use-words that the dictionaries label archaic or obsolete, or that have so fallen out of use that dictionaries no longer include them. ShakespeareвЂ™s WordsД«ecause ShakespeareвЂ™s sonnets were written more than four hundred years ago, they inevitably contain words that are unfamiliar today.

While most often discussed in terms of its images and its metrical and other formal structures, the language of the Sonnets, like that of ShakespeareвЂ™s plays, also repays close attention to such basic linguistic elements as words, word order, and sentence structure. The language of ShakespeareвЂ™s Sonnets, like that of poetry in general, is both highly compressed and highly structured.

Editors of the Folger Shakespeare Library Editions

Simple sonnet examples by students