Sonnet 8
Encyclopedia
Sonnet 8 is a procreation sonnet
by William Shakespeare
, urging the young man to whom it is addressed to marry and have children. A comparison is made between the harmony of different instruments in an orchestra, voices in unison (although on "one note" an octave apart) and a harmonious relationship between a family.
The music, which he hears, angers him as it makes him feel worthless living a single life. The last line "Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none" implies that he will become nothing having not had children. Singleness cannot make an unison (see sonnet 128 and Fred Blick, reference below). As Blick points out, this sonnet, which in its numbering invokes the union or unison of the octave, is associated with sonnet 128 by the vocative naming of the addressee as "music", but in sonnet 128 harmony in unions/unison is to be achieved by the "kiss", not marriage.
in Three Songs from William Shakespeare.
Procreation sonnets
The term procreation sonnets is a name given to Shakespearean sonnets numbers I to XVII .They are referred to as the procreation sonnets because they all argue that the young man to whom they are addressed should marry and father children, hence procreate...
by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, urging the young man to whom it is addressed to marry and have children. A comparison is made between the harmony of different instruments in an orchestra, voices in unison (although on "one note" an octave apart) and a harmonious relationship between a family.
The music, which he hears, angers him as it makes him feel worthless living a single life. The last line "Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none" implies that he will become nothing having not had children. Singleness cannot make an unison (see sonnet 128 and Fred Blick, reference below). As Blick points out, this sonnet, which in its numbering invokes the union or unison of the octave, is associated with sonnet 128 by the vocative naming of the addressee as "music", but in sonnet 128 harmony in unions/unison is to be achieved by the "kiss", not marriage.
Musical Setting
The sonnet was set to music by Igor StravinskyIgor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
in Three Songs from William Shakespeare.
Interpretations
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, for the 2002 compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, When Love SpeaksWhen Love SpeaksWhen Love Speaks is a compilation album that features interpretations of William Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians, released under EMI Classics in April 2002.-Track listing:...
(EMI ClassicsEMI ClassicsEMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
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