Love Poem Resources for Valentine's Day: Three Sonnet Activities
by

Candy Hearts

Valentine’s Day is upon us, which means that classrooms are about to be bombarded with candygrams, PDA is going to skyrocket, and hallway assignations will clog the flow of traffic between bells even more than they already do. Instead of leaning away from love in the classroom, I say lean toward it, and there’s no better vehicle for studying love than poetry.

 Thus, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I present three love poem activities to get students thinking less about the candy hearts rattling in their pockets and more about the sublime power of words to express the depths of that most complicated and wonderful of human emotions. 

(I am indebted to Steven Lynn’s Texts and Contexts for the bulk of these ideas. If you haven’t perused this fabulous book on teaching different critical approaches, I highly suggest you stop what you’re doing and procure a copy.)

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18 is arguably the most famous love poem in the English language. Moreover, it’s an excellent example of the English sonnet form:

  • Fourteen lines divided into three quatrains and one couplet
  • abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme
  • Written in iambic pentameter

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
     So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
     So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Iambic Pentameter Quick Tip:
Iambic pentameter heart beat

Having trouble scanning a line of iambic pentameter? Just remember that it’s like five heart beats in a row!

Activities

Have students read the poem to identify the conventions of the English sonnet. (They can also listen to David Tenant read it aloud while they follow along.) Next, have them translate the poem into their own words. Finally, have them consider and answer the following questions (listed on the free handout below):

  1. The poem’s aim seems to be flattery, but what is the basis for this flattery? In other words, what does the poem’s speaker value about the object of his affection? How do you know?
  2. Would you be flattered if this poem were written about you? Why or why not?

You will undoubtedly get some interesting responses!

Free Handout

Sonnet-18-Activity

“Since There’s No Help”‘ by Michael Drayton

If Sonnet 18 is a declaration of eternal admiration, Michael Drayton’s “Since There’s No Help” is a cold and capricious breakup letter. Drayton’s choice to write this as an English sonnet tells the reader immediately that the subject is love, but he takes as his focus a love that is no longer returned. For fans of Gilmore Girls, the octave reads very much like the scene in season 7 where Luke tells Lorelai, “I mean, you know, you can date whoever or whatever you want. I couldn’t care less. I’m fine.” It’s clear to anyone watching that he isn’t “fine,” much like the speaker in “Since There’s No Help” isn’t really “glad with all [his] heart” to part with his former lover.

“Since There’s No Help” by Michael Drayton

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part.
Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;
And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart,
That thus so cleanly I myself can free.
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies;
When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And Innocence is closing up his eyes—
     Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
     From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!

Activities

Have students read the poem and identify the elements of the English sonnet. Next, have them translate the poem into their own words. Finally, have students consider and answer the following questions (listed on the free handout below):

  1. Imagine you are the person being addressed by the speaker. How would you feel after the first eight lines? Why?
  2. How does your view of the relationship change in the last six lines of the poem? How does the speaker’s personification of “Love” affect how you now view the relationship?

Free Handout

Since-Theres-No-Help-Sonnet-Activity

Write Your Own Sonnet

Once students have mastered identifying the elements of the English sonnet, put their skills to the test by having them write their own sonnets. Following Sonnet 18, have students choose an inanimate object as the point of comparison for a loved one. Next, have them brainstorm characteristics about the object. Finally, have them complete the arduous task of fitting their professions of love into the constraints of the English sonnet. By the end they’ll have an original valentine for their sweetie, as well as a newfound appreciation for the difficulty of composing poetry.

If students want to put a fun, Drayton-esque twist on the sonnet, they can write their sonnets as breakup letters instead of love letters!

Activity Example

Inanimate Object: Cheese

Characteristics/Kinds of Cheese: aged, orange/yellow, sharp (in flavor, but can also refer to intelligence), melty, a snack, gouda, brie, mascarpone, mozzarella, cottage, cheddar, fondue, parmesan, Colby-Jack

Sonnet Example

Shall I compare thee to a block of cheese?
You are more agéd and you are more sharp.
You’re more dear than a gouda or a brie,
About you I’d never complain or carp.
Are you a parmesan—or a cheddar?
Your fair hair’s a beaut’ous shade of yellow.
Regardless of what type, I know you’re better
Than this or that or any other fellow.
You make me melt like a pot of fondue.
You’re sweeter than a bowl of mascarpone.
I’ll never want to throw or discard you.
You are my one and only cheese alone.
     When it does come to reaching for a snack,
     I’ll always look to you, my Colby-Jack!

Free Handout

Shall-I-compare-thee-to…Activity

Did you try any of these activities with your students? Let me know how it went! You can comment below or email me at maskedmotif@super-ela.com.

Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all!