Hey guys,I wanna ask bout the Sonnet 98-Shakespeare,what is the "summer's story tell" mean?or is this a idiom

SONNET 98


From you have I been absent in the spring,


When proud-pied April dress'd in all his trim


Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,


That heavy Saturn laugh'd and leap'd with him.


Yet nor the lays of birds nor the sweet smell


Of different flowers in odour and in hue


Could make me any summer's story tell,


Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew;


Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,


Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;


They were but sweet, but figures of delight,


Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.


Yet seem'd it winter still, and, you away,


As with your shadow I with these did play:

Hey guys,I wanna ask bout the Sonnet 98-Shakespeare,what is the "summer's story tell" mean?or is this a idiom
this is the middle of three sonnets (97, 98, 99) which talk about shakespeare's experience of love in terms of seasons and flowers.





in the first quatrain shakespeare talks about how bright and light-hearted the springtime is, but mentions that he and his lover were apart. in the second quatrain he says that even though the spring was so happy, it never made him happy (because his lover was not there). in the third quatrain he hints that he was probably so engrossed with his lover's absence that he didn't even notice that it was spring at all.





then in the couplet - which is often a kick in a soft spot with shakespeare - we get the hint that the sweetness and brilliance of spring might have made things worse. it wasn't the real thing (shakespeare's lover is the real thing - the only real thing), so having these trivial distractions just made shakespeare more aware of what he was missing.





'yet nor the lay of birds, nor the sweet smell


.......


could make me any summer's story tell'





seems to mean: 'even though the birds were singing, and the flowers all smelled wonderful, none of this made me want to join in with the general party-feeling'.





'summer's story' is very interesting.





there is no idiom 'summer's story' in english, but there is an idiom 'winter's tale'. (shakespeare even named one of his late plays 'the winter's tale').





a 'winter's tale' is a miserable, or even frightening, story which you tell in the middle of winter (because winter makes you feel miserable).





shakespeare is saying that even though the spring was making (other) people feel happy, it never made him want to tell a 'summer's story' (which presumably is the opposite of a 'winter's tale').





....





all of shakespeare's sonnets are rich (except maybe 145 and 153-155) but this is one of the richest. and 'summer's story' - an idiom which isn't an idiom - is one of its most fascinating moments.
Reply:"summer's story" is a development of the season metaphor of the poem. It means a happy story.


If you want good notes on the poem, look there:





http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/98co...





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