Okay, good morning everybody. How are you? Good.
How was like the rain last night? Beautiful.
Boring?
Yeah, I know, like, so the drones were like very
noisy. And we thought that they would stop last
night, but they didn't stop. Anyway, forget about
the drones. Let's live winter. And let's live
poetry classes. Today, we're planning, I'm
planning to reconsider the two poems because I
thought we should have another go on the two poems
from the aesthetic point of view and also the
thematic point of view. But first, as usual, we
need to listen to one or two students reporting
about the previous class. Yes, please come. There,
the lady.
You just come here. Come here. Come here. Come,
come. Okay. Last lecture, I was absent, which was
against my will. I knew from one of the classmates
that Dr. Habib asked a few girls to read their
reports, their daily reports, but they didn't. I
was in their place one time, but only because I
didn't know how to write the daily report. Now I
practice and I think I'm getting better by time.
Now let's go for Shakespeare. I really like
Shakespeare. Every time his name been heard, I
hear his name or I write it or even I read it. I
feel that feeling inside me tells me that he is
the greatest poet in the world. There was a news
that there is a new movie says that Shakespeare is
not the original writer of his works. I
immediately denied that. I think he is a great
writer and I will always think like that. I can't
wait to start the new sonnet of Shakespeare. Okay,
thank you very much.
Yes, Jihan, you want to exonerate yourself. You
know what it means, exonerate? Like to acquit
yourself when you are in a court and you commit a
mistake. Then you say, no, it's not me. I was
like, so you excuse yourself. I don't blame
myself. I blame time. You blame time. She's
blaming time. But time not like here. It is very
tough here. Okay. TikTok surrounds the clock, so
rapid did time fly. I'm still in shock. Better in
days when I am attending, though not as reckful as
when I'm not. Work sickness all subject to decay.
Even lectures in uni will in my memory rot. Though
I am back to the battlefield, so nowhere is
Shakespeare your poetry or not. Okay, thank you
very much. I think, you know, by time management,
we can overcome this problem. I know you're busy,
Jihan, but if you manage your time very well,
you'll be okay. Some people are Yeah, time is
cruel. Time is passing quickly. However, if you
manage your time, you know, I think you will
conquer time. And this is like what Shakespeare
never thought of. So he thought he would manage
his time or he would manage time or he would
conquer time by writing poetry. And I think to
some extent he was right. Okay. Is anybody
willing, like, Again, you want to exonerate
yourself. Please come. Okay.
So I have to be tough in order to be kind. Okay.
Yes. I miss the law, but I won't miss the rest. I
know that I was such a passive girl, but that will
turn to be from the past. As we know that every
culture has a start, a peak, and a catastrophe.
Sometimes we are to be the same, to begin the
semester as achievers and finish it with a sign of
failure. If things can have another track. We just
need the courage, the will, and the vision so we
can be a way from what disappoints and aborts us.
It's just a matter of moments, of being frank with
yourself, so everyone can know what is to be done
and what is not. It's just a matter of people
around you who tend to abort or encourage you. So
be positive, have the courage, speak up, face your
problems, then have a great day. Okay, thank you
very much. This reminds me of a poem, you know,
you might have studied in Tawjihi, which says, be
strong. We're not here to play, to dream, to
drift. We have hard work to do and loads to lift.
Yes, one should be realistic. One should manage
his or her time and work hard because tomorrow
will come the smile. You're fretting today. You
might be sick coming to class. You might be tired.
But I think everything is considered. Let's see. I
don't want to waste time also talking about
general issues.
Shall I compare it to a summer's day? We looked at
it, we listened to the song, and we looked at the
aesthetics. But today I'm asking different
questions. After reading the two poems, we
discovered that Shakespeare was writing on the
same theme, which was like the immortality of his
poetry. So in the two poems, So Long As Lives This
And Gives Life To Thee, and like in the other
poem, he was like vowing that nothing will
immortalize his friend, None unless this miracle
have might that in black ink my love shine bright.
So Shakespeare in the two poems is writing about
his poetry, in fact. It's about his poetry. Yes,
he's trying to immortalize the beauty of his
friend. He's trying to immortalize the memory of
his friend in the second. But if you look deeply
and you look at Shakespeare's intent, he was, in
fact, trying to show that his poetry will be
immortal. And I think in the two poems, he was
bragging that his poetry would live and would
immortalize him. So far, Shakespeare is right
because we're reading him. Shakespeare, you know,
sometimes,
can be thought of as England, and England thought
of Shakespeare, so if you go England, Shakespeare.
So they are connected with each other. Okay, let's
look at the poems again. Shall I Compare Thee to
Summer's Day? I think this is, as we said, it is a
rhetorical question. Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day? Now this rhetorical question, he
started his poem by a rhetorical question. And
Shakespeare was an orator. Shakespeare was a
writer for the theater. He was an actor himself.
And we should read this poem as if we were on the
stage. Okay? We shouldn't read this poem like,
shall I compare thee to a summer's day? No, it
should be, shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
You have to use body language. You have to feel
what you are reading. So if we read this, shall I
compare thee to a summer's day? Like, what does
this rhetorical question imply? Shall I compare
thee to a summer's day? What does it imply? Yes?
It is impossible to compare. It is impossible to
compare, you know? But more, it is impossible to
compare. You know, it is unlikely to compare. It
is unlikely to compare. What else? Despair.
You know, he's like confused, you want to say?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? But look
at the second line. What does he say in the second
line? What does he say in the second line? Okay,
what does he say in the second line? Thou are more
lovely and more temperate. So I think asking this
question implies that She is beyond comparison. Or
he, his friend, is beyond comparison. So the
rhetorical question, it is a kind of exaggeration.
He's exaggerating the beauty of the friend. What
is he trying to say? That your beauty is beyond
any comparison. Shall I compare thee to a summer's
day? And I think he should be wagging like this.
No. You are beyond comparison. They are more
lovely and more temperate. They are more lovely
and temperate. It is an assertion. They are. You
are. So when we are using you are not you maybe
you are more lovely and more temperate. Of course
here it is like contrasting. He is contrasting.
And we said when somebody is contrasting, he's
showing the differences. They are more lovely and
more temperate. I think there is a metaphor here
running. What is the metaphor? Yes. What is
Shakespeare comparing him to? To what? What is he
comparing, you know, the beauty of his friend to?
Yes? To the summer's day. To the summer's day.
Yes, you're right. But he refused to compare it.
No, but he's contrasting, you know, but I mean,
because of the sake of the analogy. So he's trying
to compare, you know, the day with. But he's
contrasting, in fact. Yes. Now, summer, or
summer's day might be temperate or not temperate
because in England. So if you are talking about
he, the friend, is more temperate, this should be
a metaphor. Yes? Now they are more temperate. So
look here, his friend is being considered as
summer in a metaphoric sense. I want you, like, to
bear this in mind when you go at the end of the
poem, when he's telling him, thy summer. So there
is a development in the poem from summer, you
know, as being metaphoric into a real summer.
Okay. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of
May. Very frightening. Why? Very frightening. Yes?
Okay, yes, the image itself is very frightening.
So if we look, you know, rough ones, like first of
all, this is a multi-layer figure of speech. Rough
ones, you know, rough ones are being seen like
what? A tough person who is shaking, Of what? The
trees causing the buds to fall down. So it's an
image of, you know, sabotage. It is an image of
destruction, you know, sabotage, destruction.
Okay, violence. But if you think, and then, you
know, the buds of May, you know, like small,
they're joining, newly growing. However, we might
also Think of this as, you know, a metaphor. When
we say rough winds do shake, rough winds are being
compared to what? To an earthquake, which is
shaking. Again, it is an image of death. Look how
Shakespeare, that's why Shakespeare was bragging,
because he was capable of using, you know, very
intricate images. Again, if we look at it, as you
said, you know, rough ones is a metonymy. Metonymy
of what? Death. And, you know, darling buds. Yeah,
people, but not any people. They are newly born.
The buds, you know, the buds of May, they are
children, newly born. Yeah, feeble, very feeble.
Like look here, when you feel the disparity
between the victim and let's say the victimizer,
You know, we like, we become very sympathetic. We,
you know, like the victim is winning our
compassion. We started to feel for, you know, the
people, for the buds. We started like to have
this, develop this compassion. And Summer's Lease
has all too short a date. Summer's Lease is
What? So summer lease, what does lease mean here?
Time, vacation, summer lease has all too short a
date. I think Shakespeare here doesn't mean summer
per sea, summer, but there should be a metonymy.
So summer is a metonymy of what, you think? Of
time? No, what do you mean by time? I know short
time, but it's a metonym of what? Of life itself.
Thank you very much. It is, you know, a metonym of
life, which is very short, which is very
circumscribed. Life is circumscribed. It is
limited.
And someone's lease has all too short a date.
Sometimes to help the eye of heaven shines. I
think we cannot fail to see what figure of speech
do we have, the eye of heaven. It's a metaphor. So
the eye of heaven, the sun shines, the eye of
heaven. So But is it shining all the time?
Sometimes. Sometimes, you know, it's an adverb of
what? Frequency. And again, here, if you look, we
have often and sometime, and often and sometime
have to do with things changing, not remaining the
same. And Shakespeare, because Shakespeare was
concerned with the change itself, so look here, we
can easily connect these things with the feeling
of change. Yes, sometime too hot the eye of heaven
shines. So it's a metaphor. But in the second
line, it is developed. The same figure of speech
is developed, and off is his old complexion
dimmed. So the complexion, what is complexion?
It's like the complexion of the face. So don't you
think here, what figure of speech is this? It is
personification, yes. It is personification. Thank
you. Yes, he here, like the sun, is being
portrayed as a person who has, you know, like
complexion. Sometimes they are shining complexion
and sometimes they are... Yeah, and Shakespeare
was upset with that, you know, norm of
inconsistency. It is a norm of change. It is a
norm of fluctuation. So Shakespeare was upset with
that, and it seems like he was trying to find a
way out of that dilemma. It continues like this,
yes? Yeah, the next line declines. Yeah, yeah. And
every fair from fair sometime declines. Yeah, and
every fair from fair. Look, I think this is like
very disappointing reality for Shakespeare. And
every fair from fair. Look at the alliteration
shows how Shakespeare was concerned, was upset
with this fact. And every fair from fair sometime
declines. I think sometime here is different from
the sometime in the previous line. How is it
different? Is it an adverb of time here? Adverb of
frequency? No. So what does it mean? Like, and
every fair from fair sometime declines. What does
it mean? And every fair, can you translate it into
Arabic? And every fair from fair sometime.
Yeah, but like I want sometime. You didn't
translate sometime. Something else. Yeah, and I
want you to translate it in Arabic, like.
Yeah,
you can translate this, but like sometime. And
every fair from fair sometime. I think, you know,
you can translate it. وكل جمال يوم ما إلى زوال Or
في النهاية إلى زوال
وكله نعيم لمحالة إلى زوال. You know, this is what
Khalid is translating in his booth there. He's
very, he's listening to us, but I'm very happy
like he's doing that. Yes, here it means finally,
eventually. Sometime here means eventually. So
Shakespeare like is very, he's mastering the
language, you know, and Shakespeare like
introduced or coined many words that, you know,
becoming Shakespeare words. Anyway, by chance or
changing nature, like he's telling us how, how
this decline is happening. By chance or nature's
changing course untrimmed. Now Shakespeare here is
referring to, you know, the forces of death in a
more metaphoric sense. Like when he's saying
chance, he was referring to fortune, to hap. And I
think this is an allusion. You know what's an
allusion? It is a reference to something outside
the text. You know, when you say he's making
allusion, He's alluding to something. Yeah, it is,
but not the fortune teller. Fortune, she was a
woman who was behind a wheel turning, this wheel,
and then you don't know. So your situation remains
all the time precarious. You know what's
precarious? In danger, insecure. Yeah, so you
don't feel any security at all. Your situation
will be precarious. Good. or changing scores
untrimmed. Like again here, this is a reference to
like the natural disasters, the natural
calamities. You know what I mean calamities?
Disasters, catastrophes. These natural calamities
are unpredictable, are untrimmed, untrimmed. Of
course here, he's comparing natural, there is a
metaphor here. He's comparing natural
disasters to something which can be like grass,
but it is untrimmed. Untrimmed means uneven. So
when we trim something, we make it even. But when
it is untrimmed, it means something is longer.
Here, what he wants to say, natural disasters are
unpredictable. They are not even. Some of them are
tsunami-like, some of them destructive
earthquakes. You don't know. They are
unpredictable. What is unpredictable is more
precarious.
So if we look how Shakespeare was meditating,
these were how Shakespeare meditating. He was
thinking. He was meditating what would happen. And
I think we share Shakespeare. You know, the most
interesting thing that Shakespeare in the two
poems is writing about particular, you know,
experience. But this particular experience becomes
common. We share Shakespeare's concern. And this
is the greatness, again, of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare is lyrical poetry. It is lyrical. It
talks about personal experience. However, like his
experience is shared by all the people. You see
what I mean? But not all the English even, all the
people around the world. It is. You can easily
identify with. So great poetry, as we said, if you
remember at the beginning of the course, great
poetry is the poetry which allows you to identify,
which allows you to be an insider of the poem
itself. By chance or nature's changing course
untrimmed. Look here, Shakespeare in the final
couplet is trying to find a way out. And now here,
he started to give us some hints what he's going
to do. Thy eternal summer. Look here, thy summer.
So summer which was being seen as like metaphoric
is becoming real. Your summer, you are the summer
yourself, but you are different summer. But thy
summer,
thy eternal summer shall not fade. Again, we have
a metaphor. You know, the summer of the friend is
like a plant which will never, you know, fade. It
will remain lush green. I like this collocation,
lush green. It will remain lush green forever.
Why? Because this is how Shakespeare thought of
his poetry. And I think here, he was bragging. He
was cherishing his poetry.but thy eternal summer
shall not fade nor lose possession of that fairs
thou owest it will never your you know because you
know your your summer will be in my eternal lines
so it will never lose its beauty will remain
intact you know what's mean intact you know intact
unblemished as it is intact
It will remain as it is.
But, like, if you hear, like, go to the, you know,
nor lose position of that, first thou owest, nor
shall death. Nor. Look at nor. Nor. So Shakespeare
here is contesting, is challenging. Death will
not. Nor. Nor. So the not and the nor, you know,
the use of these has to, you know, to do with
Shakespeare's attitude of contesting with death,
you know, challenging death. Nor, nor, nor. Nor
shall death brag that wondrous in his shade. Death
will never brag. Again, here, we have a personal
occasion. Death is being portrayed like a person
who's arrogant, conceited. Look at them. I
inflicted all of them dead. And again, this is a
biblical image. This is an image from the Bible
when death, when like a lot of people who were
killed by death will be like in his shade. So
Shakespeare is using a biblical image here, and
this is another example of allusion.
Now, nothing will happen to you when, and he's
trying to explain for us, when in eternal lines to
time thou growest. You know, thou grossed. Again
here, we have a metaphor. And this metaphor, as we
said, is what? Yeah, I know it's a metaphor. What
is the metaphor here? Like, let's explain it. Like
the summer of his friend will grow. Where will it
grow? In Gaza? No, where? In his poetry. Have you
ever seen like something growing in poetry? Okay,
let's plant a tree in poetry Shakespeare, in the,
you know, the poetry of Shakespeare. Yes. So here,
I think the image is taken from botany from, you
know, you know, in botany, in agriculture, there
is something called grafting. What is grafting? It
means you are joining two things. So here, the
image is like this. Shakespeare's poetry is being
portrayed like what? Like a tree. And the summer
of his friend is like graft, a piece which is
joined. And then after a while, it sprouts. You
know what's with sprouts? It sprouts, grows. It
grows, you know, it grows and then it continues
growing. So this is a grafting metaphor, like you
graft, you join two parts, you know, they might
not be, you know, homogeneous, they might be
heterogeneous, but once they are grafted, they
become homogeneous and they grow together. So look
how Shakespeare was analyzing his sentiment. Look
how Shakespeare was recording. And all of this in
a musical, in a sonnet form. So there are many
things to consider here.
When in eternal lines to time thou growest, So
long as men, and Shakespeare after all of this,
you know, has concluded the argument. So the
argument started by Shakespeare's concern about,
you know, then he went through all the
difficulties, which would make him like decline to
compare. And finally, he's giving the conclusion
in the couplet, so long as men can breathe. Or
eyes can see. It's a metonymy of life itself. So
long live this. And this gives life to thee. Look
at him. So long live this, this, and this gives
life to thee. So Shakespeare cherishes,
Shakespeare thinks his poetry will ever, you know,
will immortalize him. It's a wonderful poem. And I
think it shows how Shakespeare was very artistic.
Yeah, confident. Now, this poem, like, when you
listen to the song, it was easily sung. Why?
Because of the musicality of the iambic
pentameter. And did you listen to the song again?
Huh? Did you listen to the song again? Shall I
compare the Utah Summer's Day, no? Huh? Okay.
Thank you. Now, I think we still we have time to
look at the second poem, which is Since Brass. As
we saw, this poem is more serious, is more
philosophical. And the challenge with death is
much more fierce. It's a very ferocious one. Since
brass nor stone nor earth nor boundless sea. Sad
mortality oversways their power. So Shakespeare
starts this poem by the assumption that nothing
will stand the ravages of time. So as you see
here, sad mortality, it's a metonymy of time. And
here, time is being viewed like what? Like very
ruthless beast or monster which will destroy
everything in its way. Since brass, nor stone, nor
earth, nor boundless sea. Look at these, they are
very, they are known for their power. But these
things will be powerless when they are face to
face with time. But sad mortality oversways their
power. Oversways, like the verb itself,
demonstrates how massive the destruction will be,
how tough or how fierce the destruction will be.
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea? So
Shakespeare, as we said, this poem is full of
rhetorical questions. How many questions do we
have? Five rhetorical questions. How with this
rage shall beauty hold a plea? So Shakespeare is
wondering, you know, is wondering about, like, the
vulnerability, the invalidness of, let's say, the
beauty or love of his friend. What will it do, you
know? It will be helpless, exactly like a helpless
defendant in a court. who is unable to defend
himself in front of a very despotic executor.
How would this Rachel beauty hold a plea, whose
action is no stronger than a flower? Look here.
Yeah, a flower is very delicate. So this shows how
the beauty of his friend is very delicate. He's
comparing it to a flower. And if we think about
the disparity, the difference between the delicacy
of the beauty friend and the toughness and the
roughness and the, you know, of time, we started
like to say, oh my God, this is too much. whose
action is no stronger than a flower? Or how shall
summer's honey breath hold out?" Again, it is
summer's honey breath, which is very delicate,
which is very, you know, the beauty, very soft.
This is, again, it is a metaphor. Yes. Against the
reckful siege of battering days, you know? And we
saw the image of the battering days. And we,
because we live You know, in a siege, we
understand what is a siege, how tough is the
siege, you know? And this siege is, you know, very
frightening. We saw how the battering days will be
like soldiers holding big hammers trying, like, to
deter or stop, you know, this lovely, this
delicate, fragile, you know, beauty, like, to go
out, to leave. when rocks impregnable are not so
stout what I like here in this line you know if we
look here when rocks you know against the reckful
siege of battering days when rocks impregnable now
impregnable we have three Three stresses. And
this, you know, because the whole poem is written
in iambic pentameter. When, you know, it's written
in iambic pentameter. And here, so Shakespeare
tried to vary it. He's tried to vary it in order,
like, to equate, you know, the sound and the
meaning. So here, the battering days, boom, boom,
boom. So he's equating this triple hammer blow
with, you know, the three stressed syllables. So
this is, like, common. And here, a not-so-stout.
You know, again here. You know? Nor case of steel
so strong. You know? Again. But time decays. Or
for, you see, or for meditation where I lack shall
times best jewel from times chest lie head. You
know? Here, again, again, you know? Or what
strong, what? Strong hand. Swift-foot bag. So
Shakespeare's, you know, like, started to variate
in this. Why? To make, you know, the sound like a
little bit equivalent or parallel with the meaning
itself. Because here, as you see, it is very
tough. It is very, you know, noisy. So when rocks
impregnable are not so stout, nor gates of steel
so strong, but time decays, Very frightening. When
you think the beauty of the friend or, you know,
the memory of the friend, like, will be faced with
all these powers of destruction, you become very
intimidated. You become very afraid. And
Shakespeare, even Shakespeare also said, Oh,
fearful meditation, because this is very
intimidating, isn't it? Where are you?" He started
to ask, what will, you know, time's best jewel?
You know, time here is life, and the best jewel of
life is the beauty itself. Well, you know what
will happen? What is the fate? So he was, you
know, pondering. He was thinking about, you know,
the beauty of, you know, the fate, you know, of
this beauty. What will happen to it? Shall time's
best jewel from time's chest lie head? Or what?
Strongly. Look here, he is looking for, he's
seeking what? A hand. A hand which will deter,
hold. You know what's mean deter? Repulse. The
swift thought of time. Yeah, like to hold it back,
to stop it, to deter. So he was looking for
something. Now, when you are in trouble, in a
crisis situation, in a dilemma, you start to look
for something from the outside. You start to seek
an aid. And Shakespeare here was wondering, what
can I do? Or what strong hand can hold his swift
foot back? Or who? who's spoiled of beauty. Now I
need somebody, I need somebody who can stop this,
you know, the beauty. you know, can forbid. Of
course, we as Muslims, we can answer these
questions easily, you know, by saying, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala can, you know, can stop all of
this. Shakespeare was trying to think of a power,
you know, but he suddenly say, or who his bowl of
beauty can forbid? Oh, none, none of these, except
Unless this miracle, what is this? This poem, his
poetry. This have might, might, power. Unless my
poetry has this power. To do what? That, he's
explaining it. That in a black ink, my love may
still shine bright. Wow. So very affirmative.
Very, he, I think he's bragging. He's bragging.
He's, you know, sure that his poetry will, you
know, immortalize him.
You see, this is Shakespeare. Again, now we might,
and this is like part of your job. is to see whom
he was addressing in the sonnet. In the two
sonnets, whom he was addressing. Was he
addressing, you know, the dark lady? Was he
addressing a friend? Who's this friend? You know?
This is very important to consider because I want
you like to have more knowledge, awareness about
Shakespeare's sonnets. So these are one, these two
sonnets, they are popular sonnets. However, you
can, for comparison, look at sonnets and learn
more about Shakespeare by yourself, okay? Any
question, please? Do you have any question?
Okay. Thank you very much.