Laurence “Larry” Olivier, 1907 to1989, became famous, as an actor, and this was, to a great extent, due to his acting in Shakespearean roles. His portrayal of Hamlet was “incredible” and critics asserted that a new age of acting was born.

Olivier won Best Actor in an Academy Award and received a Knighthood, because of his presentation of Hamlet. He subsequently excelled in his role of King Henry the Fifth, and earlier as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Students of literature and drama viewed the film, Hamlet, to study Olivier’s interpretation. But the quality of Shakespeare’s works is not confined only to his plays. His sonnets, as verses are on occasion neglected. However, these 154 compositions are equally profound and interesting that justifies a visit.

Anthony Hecht, Professor, Georgetown University, US, America’s most distinguished poet of the past half century and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, tells us Shakespeare’s sonnets, in statistical terms, outsell everything else he wrote. The plays, writes Hecht, are taught in schools and universities, and plays like Hamlet,Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Nights Dream, guarantee a large attendance, because these are significant works of the Bard. Othello, The Moor of Venice, attracts a curious audience because Othello, a Moor, is an African, in the service of the Duke of Venice.

However, the sonnets are still widely read and interest scholars because of various interpretations involving Shakespeare’s own mindset of love and its connotations. There are diverse reasons for people wishing to study the sonnets and one is that readers read lines that may signify Shakespeare’s private life.

But the larger group within this category of curious readers — comprise young lovers who find the sonnets to be an attractive vade mecum, or useful handbook. The poems interpret many emotions or feelings, from happiness, jealousy, fear, desperation, to self hatred. The sonnets do indeed reflect deep love that opens emotions and tell us that the thoughts are no longer personal; they articulate how the people in the poem feel about themselves.

The last of Shakespeare’s sonnets are thought to be written to his mistress, whom scholars refer to as the “Dark Lady.”The middle sonnets, of which number 18 is the first, are thought to be love poems directed at a young man. In sonnet 20 this is more obvious and some scholars question if certain lines reveal an admission to his preference for men.

The poet’s lover is the “master mistress of (his) passion.” His lover is devoid of the guile and pretense that is with female lovers; Shakespeare affirms that this man was “prick’d”out for women’s pleasure.” Sonnet number one establishes the power of beauty, and to remain young. “From fairest creatures we desire increase that thereby beauty’s rose might never die.” This encompasses young beautiful women and handsome or elegant men.

Rather than lovers blaming themselves and to guard against self hatred, they can preserve their unconditional love which is ideal. Shakespeare’s sonnet number 35 articulates these thoughts: “No more be grieved at that which thou hast done; Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud. Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, and loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.” These expressive lines obviously have a sense of guilt.

The moon and sun, beyond the orbit of imperfection, are not themselves actually contaminated, but on the contrary, are viewed through nearby imperfections that have resulted in a “stain.” Critics ask if “loathsome canker” is not too harsh a word. The harshness is redeemed by “sweetest bud.” It is like one lover calling the other, horrid, and then calling the other lover, an angel, instead of, horrid. Under the formal modern definition, the sonnet is a 14 line poem, although there have been variations by writers.

The 14 line sonnet can be divided into two categories — the Italian or Petrarchan or the Shakespearean sonnet. The Italian poet, Petrarch, 1304 to1374, did not invent the Petrarchan form. His use of this form of sonnets was to celebrate his beloved, Laura, which made the Petrarchan form of sonnets, popular.

The Shakespearean sonnet too was named after its famous practitioner. However this form of writing was also established and used by Shakespeare’s predecessors and contemporaries that included Spenser, Sidney and others. Shakespeare’s sonnets are metrically regular. He took liberties, on occasion, when he used feminine endings, an extra unaccented eleventh syllable at the end of a line. For example, 12 of the 14 lines of sonnet 87 end in this way, with most of the endings of lines composed of the participial-ing.

“Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing, The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;” It should be our task to read, evaluate and enjoy Shakespeare’s sonnets. Devoted attention to each sonnet will enlighten a reader with exciting discoveries and new interpretations.

Not even one of these 154 verses lack merit. Many of them are beyond compare and as sonnets are undoubtedly the finest in the English language. Some of the sonnets contain puzzles and mysteries and this, writes Hecht, “may be a part of their enigmatic charm.” But we cannot fail to hear in them a voice of passion and intelligence through powerful, rich and complex emotions, of a really dramatic kind.