Charlene Pattillo
Miramar College
8 October 2007
 
"Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments"
     "Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments" by William Shakespeare is a sonnet that uses dark imagery to convey two ideas. The first is that the subject’s love will endure the ravages of war and time by being immortalized in the sonnet, and the second is that Shakespeare believed that his poetry was so outstanding that it would be around for generations to come. The coldness of marble and statue, and the destructive power of war and fire are cleverly used to provide contrast to the enduring beauty and strength of Shakespeare’s poetry.

     In the first quatrain Shakespeare makes a bold statement. His words reveal that he believed in the power and popularity of his sonnets.
            Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
            Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
            But you shall shine more bright in these contents
             Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
Shakespeare is saying that his words are so powerful that they will live on longer than marble and the monuments erected to honor princes. In the next sentence he says that the one he loves will shine brighter, within the words of the sonnet, than the stones that are not kept clean and have been worn down over the years. The imagery of marble, dusty stones and monuments has a very cold feel, but it provides a wonderful contrast to the confident belief in his own writing and the warmth of the love he feels for this person.
      In the second quatrain the sonnet seems to get even darker. Shakespeare uses images of war, fire and destruction to create drama and an ominous tone. Once again, he cleverly turns these images into positives as he describes how the object of his affection will live on for eternity because of his words.
            When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
            And broils root out the work of masonry,
            Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
            The living record of your memory.  
The destructive nature of war is pitted against the powerful words of Shakespeare. Not even the sword of Mars, the Roman god of war, or the fires caused by battle, can destroy the “living record” of the memory of his love. At this stage of the sonnet, it becomes apparent that as well as being a tribute to his love, the sonnet also serves to relay the fact that Shakespeare, himself, knew that his writing skills were beyond compare.
      In the third quatrain it becomes difficult to tell whether Shakespeare is talking about his own sonnet, or the person he loves.
            'Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
            Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room,
            Even in the eyes of all posterity


            That wear this world out to the ending doom.
He is saying that his words, or his beloved, will defy death and continue to be honored and praised in the eyes of the generations to come, until the end of the world. Again the images of death and the end of the world are used to contrast the longevity of his words and his love for this person.
       In the final couplet Shakespeare cleverly blurs the distinction between the sonnet and the object of his love.
            So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
            You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.
The judgment that he refers to could be God’s final judgment, or it could be the judgment of his sonnet by his peers. “You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes,” is referring to his love living on through his words, and his words living in the eyes of the lovers who recite them.

      "Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments" is a sonnet that serves to immortalize a woman and also confirms that Shakespeare was as much an admirer of his own words as the people who read them. His use of dark and cold imagery sets up a beautiful contrast between the destruction caused by war and time, and the strength and longevity of love immortalized in poetry. Shakespeare uses the sonnet to both pay tribute to his love and boast of the power of his words at the same time. At times it is difficult to discern whom or what Shakespeare is referring to because of the clever way that he is able to use words. The overall message of the poem is that his love will endure for eternity, but only because of his expertise as a sonneteer.
 
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