Wouldn't the semicolons be even more "open to question"? I don't mean to suggest that they are "wrong," but they were a relatively new mark in Shakespeare's time, I believe. Does anyone know who is responsible for the punctuation of the sonnets that we possess? Ed S On Mar 18, 2009, at 7:24 PM, Paul E. Doniger wrote: > Herb & Scott, > > I've always held that the main clause of this one sentence sonnet, > as Herb suggests (if I'm reading you rightly), appears in the third > quatrian: "(Haply) I think on thee." It's the implied "then" > statement that follows the when statement that opens the sonnet > ("When in disgrace ......., [then] I think on thee."). This, it > seems to me, is the main point of the entire sonnet and is explained > more fully by the final couplet. By the way, I'm not at all > convinced by the punctuation, which in Shakespeare is often open to > question anyway, especially the comma after line #9, which I think > is still a continuation of the previous thought, not an introduction > to the main clause that follows it. What do you think? > > Paul > > "If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an > improbable fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128). > > > From: "STAHLKE, HERBERT F" <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:03:57 PM > Subject: Re: Sonnet grammar analysis help > > Scott, > > I think I’d treat “Yet…thee” as a main clause as well, not as > adverbial. Yet acts as a coordinating conjunction and so also gets > used sentence-initially to set up a contrast with a preceding > thought. There’s a single complex adverbial clause comprising the > first two quatrains. The third quatrain begins with the main clause > of that sentence and is itself a coordinate clause with “and.” The > third quatrain is set off by a semi-colon because of the preceding > serial commas.. The closing couplet is also set off with a semi- > colon, perhaps because of the initial “for” and the close logical > link between it and three quatrains. A sonnet in one sentence. Not > many poets have pulled this off so well. > > Of course, the semicolons are the interpretation of an editor, > unidentified. In the 1609 facsimile (http://ia311343.us.archive.org/3/items/shakespearessonn00shakrich/shakespearessonn00shakrich.pdf > ), all lines but the last end in commas, although the punctuation at > the end of the first quatrain is ambiguous. I can’t make out on the > screen whether it was meant to be a comma or a period, but I suspect > the former. > > Herb > > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask] > ] On Behalf Of Scott Woods > Sent: 2009-03-18 14:53 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Sonnet grammar analysis help > > List, > Please let me know if you think I'm basically correct with my > analysis or where I might be more correct or clear. > > Adverb clause in italics > Independent clauses in bold > participial phrases in < > with participle underlined > noun clauses in [ ] > adjective or relative clauses in { } > When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes > I all alone beweep my outcast state, > And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, > And look upon myself, and curse my fate, > <Wishing me like to one more rich in hope>, > <Featur’d like him>, <like him with friends possess’d>, > <Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope>, > <With [what I most enjoy] contented least>; > Yet <in these thoughts myself almost despising>, > Haply I think on thee,—and then my state, > Like to the lark at break of day <arising > From sullen earth>, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; > For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings > {That then I scorn to change my state with kings}. > > Does this seem right? Any comments? > > Thanks, > Scott Woods > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and > select "Join or leave the list" > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and > select "Join or leave the list" > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/