January 22, 2013

In class, we had to assemble into separate groups and pick two sonnets; one of Shakespeare's and one of Berrigan's.  As a team, my group hardly uttered a word to each other, so we each kind of sought out our own interests.  I'm not a real fan of Shakespeare--not because I cannot understand him, but because I cannot fathom as to why he is held to such high regard.  I saved his poems for last.

For my Berrigan sonnet, I picked XV.  I like that it's not about Berrigan's love life, but Joe Brainard; the artist he mentions in the sonnet.  In the poem, Brainard creates a collage of sixteen pictures of Marilyn Monroe as a homage to her--a tribute.  I think the artist truly loved Monroe in every sense of the word, but not necessarily like an obsession.  Berrigan states in XV "and the sonnet is not dead."  To me, it means the love Brainard has for Monroe has not died, even though she has.

As for Shakespeare, I picked 130.  Much of the class proclaimed that in the sonnet, Shakespeare is insulting his love, but he's not.  He's merely stating how he has a strong love for his significant other; different from anyone else's.  Much like how Harryette Mullen did in her sonnet, "Dim Lady" years later.