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Shakespeare's sonnet LV entitled "Not marble, nor the gilded
monuments" is a well-crafted poem. In the first line Shakespeare uses a
word, namely gilded, that can mean more than one thing. I also found
this word of interest because I had never heard of it. In the
Merriam-Webster dictionary to gild can have six different meanings; (1)
to overlay with or as if with a thin covering of gold; (2) to give
money; (3) to give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to; (4)
to make bloody; (5) to add unnecessary ornamentation to something
beautiful in its own right; and (6) to make superfluous additions to
what is already complete. The word is Middle English; from the Old
English word gyldan alike to the Old English gold. The Middle English
use of this word is dated in the 14th century, this makes since because
Shakespeare was born in 1564, thus placing the origination of gild
before his use of it in Sonnet LV. Shakespeare also uses gild in two of
his plays, "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily" from Shakespeare's
King John, and "Gilded tombs do worms enfold" from Shakespeare's
Merchant of Venice. The use of gild in this two plays hint to me that
he purposely uses gild to mean different things.
To overlay with gold is the most straightforward definition of gild.
Shakespeare is telling the person for whom his is writing that with
this poem his memories of that person will outlive the monuments of
today. He is proclaiming that the pyramids overlaid with gold, the
palatial tombs left to princes and royalty is nothing to the memorial
of words he has left his love. The work of the mason and of the statute
maker will perish under war brought by tyrants, greed, and sin. But his
words will not come undone by any man or godly power to the end of time
as he states in line 7, "Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall
burn the living record of your memory". His rime or rhyme will survive
world without end.
What is money or death when you're making tributes? The second and
the fourth definition of gild, to give money and to make bloody,
respectively, speak to how physical commemorations were produced before
and during Shakespeare's time. Kings and nobility spend large sums of
money and manpower to build their courtyards, tributes, etc. Thousands
of slaves died building the Egyptian pyramids. In the Middle Ages it
was not uncommon for a rich man to finance a Cathedral or sculpture in
Italy by purchasing indulgences (a priest would relax punishment for a
sin). It is also known during the Middle Ages that the church owned
huge amounts of land and thus wealth, and wore silk robes as they
pursed their lips on gold cups filled with wine, under their marble and
precious stone laid churches. It can be viewed that Shakespeare is
saying no one died for him to make his written monument. The poem was
underwritten with sweat from his brow, not the bloody sweat of a
thousand men or their corruption. Shakespeare did not have to lay siege
to an enemy's rightful belongings or steal another country's gold,
silver, or diamonds to build his cenotaph.
The dual motivations behind the edifices of great societies can be
the stimulus for Shakespeare's use of the third definition of gild, to
give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to. The extravagance
of some structures seem to suggest the persons who funded them were
ego-centric, they made monuments to themselves to show their status,
wealth, and power, but they lacked self-confidence, control, or true
devotion toward others. The churches of the middle age were beautiful
but probably a tribute to the greatness of priests and not to eminence
of God. Shakespeare is writing this poem for the sole purpose of
worship to this man or woman. Shakespeare is not selfish in his action,
his boldness is to affirm the power of this person's life and memory,
and he will keep it alive against mortal deaths and plagues. The beauty
is not in the poem alone but also in the one who is great enough to
render Shakespeare to such devotion.
The last two definitions of gild speak to adding unnecessary
ornamentation to something beautiful in its own right, and to making
superfluous additions to what is already complete. The two descriptions
speak to adding what is unnecessary. Why add make up to already
beautiful face? Why add gold to an amazing construct? If something is
ornamental but has no meaning it is worthless, as Shakespeare states
all of these shrines of marble, stone, and gold are "besmear'd with
sluttish time" (line 4); "When worthless war shall statues overturn"
(line 5) there will be nothing left of the structure. Shakespeare is
subtly stating the inspiration for his sonnet is praise worthy enough
to stand the test of time. The person he is speaking of is higher than
natural and man-made resources. Shakespeare is not adorning his poem
with the unnecessary, every word makes her "shine more bright in these
contents" (line 3), the words complement her, and they do not
over-power her and her soul.
Shakespeare chose to use gild instead of gold because gild has more
connotations. Gold can be a color or a precious stone, but gild has
many dimensions, while usurping also the definitions for gold. Is
Shakespeare speaking to monuments made by hand as gold laden,
deceptive, unnecessarily adorned, too costly, or as a cause of death or
war. All the many definitions complement one another, and any one of
them can spark up an analytical conversation of Sonnet LV. I chose this
sonnet, because in the US, our monuments are the houses and corporate
offices of "Big Business" and the wealthy. The World Trade Center was a
target because of its architectural feats and because it symbolized
American power and wealth. Did we have to build the WTC back after the
first attack? Did we because it would show our patriotism or because of
the fortune 100 companies and our arrogance. Shakespeare uses gild to
speak to something that is unnecessarily ornamented, because a ton of
gold, or a thousand men's lives, do not have to be expended to show
admiration for a person, place, or thing, nor does it make him, her, or
it timeless. With fourteen lines Shakespeare's pen is mightier than the
knight's sword, the person who he is celebrating greater than the vain
aspirations of kings.
Bibliography
Merriam Webster Online. MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE copyright 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Accessed on 09/20/02. http://www.m-w.com/home.htm
Luther and the German Reformation. Created 01/01/1999. Accessed on 9/23/02. http://piglet.ex.ac.uk/archive/itp3002/gosh.ex.ac.uk/%257Ege97alh/Links.htm
The Phrase Finder. Last updated 08/27/02. Accessed on 9/23/02. http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/shakespeare.html
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