“So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground” (SON 75)
Tips for Use. Excellent line for a card or a romantic declaration. It is true that the Sonnet as well as many others were directed to a young man, but the spirit transcends gender limitations. The ‘sweet season’ is April. For literature buffs the first English poet to come out with the sweet-season idea was Chaucer,
“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote (“sweet showers”)
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.”
To receive an (almost) daily copy of the latest blog and Shakespearean verbal ‘weapon’ subscribe for free to this site (click on the top-right link on the menu).
And I promise, no sales calls, trade leads, venomous schemes, hidden plots, Machiavellian conspiracies, commercial ploys, psychological tricks, leads exchanges, barter proposals, suggestions or offers of any kind imaginable (and unimaginable).
Of course, if you acquire the book “Your Daily Shakespeare” (click on “The book” in the menu), you will not only enjoy it but you will find it very useful. The quote in this post and more than ten thousand others will lead you to find the words that perfectly strengthen your argument(s). After all Shakespeare wrote them, I simply extracted, structured and compiled them so as to make Shakespeare both useful in your life endeavors and very “user friendly” as they say. And if you wish I will even sign the book. But this is the extreme extent of any “sales” effort, call or solicitation.
In the Sonnet. This is the opening of the sonnet, a sprightly allegorical tribute to the young friend who stirs the poet’s emotions. Soon after, the poet sees the negative side of the situation in that he alternates starving with feasting on that same allegorical food.
Image sources: http://www.sweetpeacecafe.com/2010/01/happy-new-year-2010.html http://www.sierraphotography.com/wxnotes/wxnotes_mar07.htm