Question

Read these lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.

"I love to hear her speak, yet well I know/That music hath a far more pleasing sound.../And yet, by Heaven, I think my love as rare/as any she belied with false compare."

Why does Shakespeare structure the sonnet's final two lines differently than the rest of the sonnet?

A. to force the reader to interpret the conclusion's meaning
B. to lend impact to the sonnet's conclusion
C. to add a note of despair to the sonnet's conclusion
D. to force the reader to ponder the futility or words

Answer 1

I am pretty sure that the reason why inal two lines differently than the rest of the sonnet is being revealed by the first option. A. to force the reader to interpret the conclusion's meaning. Author emphasizes that you need to focuse on these words by changing tone of lines so that reader can feel it itself.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. to lend impact to the sonnet's conclusion.

The structure of a Shakespearean sonnet is a simple one - it consists of three quatrains (3 x 4 lines) and a final couplet (2 lines). The couplet is the most important part of the sonnet - it contains the main idea of the entire poem.

This sonnet is no different - during the entire poem, he is describing his beloved in an unconventional way, but in the final couplet we can see that he truly loves her and that his love is far more real and pure than other people's love.