(5) Tree Line
This poem describes some pretty universal emotions, like frustration and anger. We can probably all relate to this. Still, the way the speaker communicates this theme is pretty complicated. First of all, you’ve got the challenge of the slightly unusual Elizabethan language, though Sonnet 137 isn’t any harder than Shakespeare’s other works in this respect. What makes Sonnet 137 especially tricky is all the really crazy wordplay it gets into, sometimes packing many, many different layers of meaning into a single word. Don’t worry, though, check out our "Detailed Summary" for help. And hang in there. With MC Shakespeare on the mic, you’ll learn that even the simplest emotions can be expressed in an infinite variety of interesting ways.