To be perfectly honest, I cannot say that I have ever wholeheartedly dove into sonnets. They have been my least of favorite poems to read, dissect, and write, but I enjoyed these readings. I particularly enjoyed Shakespeare's sonnet 55. Rather than simply speaking about love and devotion towards another individual per se, this poem also pays tributes to the art of writing. Shakespeare passed on long ago, yet this sonnet, as it very well states that it would, lives on. This headstrong sonnet is a reflection of itself.
As most of Shakespeare's work doth tease my mind, it took me a bit of time to understand what exactly he is talking about. The first two lines," Not marble nor the gilded monuments / Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme," sets the stage for this poem. Shakespeare compares golden plated statues of royalty to poetry. Contemporarily speaking, I can dig that. Any writer's ultimate goal is for their words to carry on their legacy. Disregard the triteness, but riches are not as valuable as human thoughts. Whether thoughts are translated through words or images, these two lines epitomize this. In this instance, not only is the lover immortalized but the poet's skill is as well.
Furthermore, the shakespearean sonnet, in my experience, is not an easy task to mimic. After reading over various translations, I have a greater appreciation for Shakespeare's word play and how carefully he bends the English language. Such as the last line, "You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes." So much is stated in such few words. The nameless lover lives on, as we 21st century people read a poem that was written hundreds of years ago. This poem is alive.
I agree that sonnets are daunting, and in my opinion boring to read. But like you said, the realization a contemporary reader gets from the first two lines is pretty amazing. Shakespeare makes a bold move by saying that his words would outlive the "gilded monuments". He sets himself up, and the contemporary reader gets to see his words as a truth, which readers during the time of publication could only imagine as true. He was aware of the embedded discussion within poetry, which makes it really powerful and interesting to a reader today.
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