In which Sonnet does Shakespeare refer to England?

Question

I was told he wrote about England in one of his Sonnets. We are going to discuss it, but I don't know which one it is. Neither does the teacher!

Answer 1

Sonnet 73 makes a more explicit reference to England:

"Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang."

Reference tothe monastries ruined during the reign of King Henry III

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xSonn...

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Sonnet 130 is clearly a parody of the conventional love sonnet, made popular by Petrarch and, in particular, made popular in England by Sidney's use of the Petrarchan form in his epic poem Astrophel and Stella.

Answer 2

Sonnet 130 does not have an explicit setting, although some students might take into consideration Shakespeare's place in Elizabethan England.

Others might wonder who or what the poem is critical of, since Sonnet 130 seems to be critical of something in its tone—indicate that this is a good question to remember when they come to developing questions and a thesis for the poem at the end of the activities.

Queen Elizabeth I: Shakespeare’s rejection of traditional notions of femininity and feminine beauty in “Sonnet 130” can be viewed as a response to a situation very rare for the time: the presence of a woman on the throne of England.

Sonnet 73 is one of Shakespeare's most beloved works, but it has prompted both tremendous praise and sharp criticism

Answer 3

I'm not sure about sonnets, but there's this:

"This royal throne of Kings, this scepter'd isle,

      This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

      This other Eden, demi-paradise,

      This fortress built by Nature for herself

      Against infection and the hand of war,

      This happy breed of men, this little world,

      This precious stone set in the silver sea,

      Which serves it in the office of a wall

      Or as a moat defensive to a house,

      Against the envy of less happier lands,

      This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."

                   _King Richard II_, Act ii, sc. 1, l. 40-46.

                      "Histories", p. 28, col. B, lines 17-23.