![]() ![]() ![]() William Shakespeare’s actual birthdate is unknown, but records show he was baptized when a few days old on April 26, 1564, in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in England. The English sonnet is divided in three four-line stanzas (quatrains) and a two-line couplet, in a departure from its precursor, the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, which is divided in one eight-line stanza (octet) and one six-line sestet. ![]() It also uses the couplet to provide a swift twist. This particular sonnet is regarded as a great example of the English form because it uses each of its three quatrains (four-line stanzas) to present different imagery. Through a series of distinct similes and metaphors, “Sonnet 60” explores the speaker’s anxiety about mortality and aging, and resolves this fear in the ending couplet. “Sonnet 60” is counted as one of Shakespeare's finest and most complex poems, as well as an illustrative example of an English sonnet. ![]()
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