Similarities and Differences Between William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 55” and Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time”

Similarities and Differences Between William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 55" and Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time"

William Shakespeare and Robert Herrick are well-known names. They have written many poems that are still relevant and popular. There are some similarities between certain poems they wrote, which makes it possible to compare specific poems of Shakespeare and Herrick with each other. For example Shakespeare's "Sonnet 55" and Herrick's "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time". Though there are some similarities between these poems, they ultimately do not share the same theme.

There are certain similarities to be found between "Sonnet 55" and "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". In both poems there is a motif of time to be found. In "Sonnet 55" we see it very clearly as Shakespeare compares the enormous amount of time the poem will last opposite to the amount of time everything else lasts: "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments / Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme" (1-2).

Sir John Gilbert's 1849 painting: The Plays of Wil...

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may"

English: Robert Herrick (baptized 24 August 1591 �...

Shakespeare ties imagery of objects such as monuments and statues to being effected by time while art is not. Herrick uses the motif of time in his poem as well. He uses it to show how little time there is in life. He does this with imagery of blooming and dying flowers and the sun rising and setting. Time is also personified in both poems. Shakespeare talks about "sluttish time" (4) and Herrick says: "Old time is still a-flying" (2). Another similarity is the meter of the poems. Both poets use iambic meter.

Not only are there similarities between Shakespeare's "Sonnet 55" and Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", there are clear differences as well. The main theme of "Sonnet 55" seems to be...