Reflection on Shakespeare's Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets are timeless.

The western classic I love: Iliad, Odyssey, Shakespeare Sonnets, Hamlet. but I never took classes and seriously studied, yet during my young adult years drifting in ny, away from home and family, and lived solitude lifestyle that I gained some special, personal understanding about these great works. of course, I have read many Chinese classics, the great four novels, Water Marshal, Romance of Three Kingdom, Journey to West... when I was elementary schooler, 5th grade, and later Tang and Song poetry books always by my bedside, late teenage years came to US, dipped in the Western Classic.

the Bard's Sonnets give me sense of Tang poetry style, skillful, playful, natural and acrobatic in wording construction, broad in content and subjects, liberal from Love topic to more of Social and Human concerns, it seems only Bard can express himself fully in strict sonnet form. many his sonnets speak about his society, express his views in disguise of Love. so the Bard kind of inspired me to write a reflection on each his sonnet. and I invented a poetry game with some rules to achieve this task:

1) Start from Sonnet 001 to 150, every night I write one.
2) 30 minute reading, 30 minute writing a related subject
3) compose my reflection in 14 lines, not in sonnet form.
4) no extra editing, no deleting the failed ones, no make up

150 nights since Feb, the first 18 nights were totally scary and humbling experience, I never knew whether I could write 14 lines reflection, often the Bard's 2 great couplets in each sonnet like master swordsman totally cut my brain in halves, in 2 strokes, literately speaking, before writing I felt like I was on the way to my execution or waterboarding program, after writing it, a miracle, especially when the reflection read like something, I was happy, felt lucky, which more important. also I want to preach too, update our social status to Bard's sonnet invention, and keep on all classic poetry tradition, that serves two purposes:
record the society from writer's own angle
break some boundaries that I have touched

30 years Classic Chinese (Tang and Song) poetry reading really helps to build my poems, it's not difficult for me to write couplets, and I have lived in 2 world, Chinese world, and new immigrant in America world, that gives me confident in my writing, also limits my views or broadens my thoughts.

I've been trying to mimic sonnet for a few years, never achieved, 3 samples:
To My Bright Star                                       2009.10.01
Quit The War, And Come Back We F%$#   2009.04.30
Shall I Compare Thee To A Wintry Night   2009.04.03



Successful reflection samples, most only with 2 good lines (*), a few whole thing look great(***):
Sonnet 002 **
Sonnet 008 *
Sonnet 009 *
Sonnet 011 ***
Sonnet 012 **
Sonnet 014 **
Sonnet 017 ***
Sonnet 019 **
Sonnet 023 *
Sonnet 027 ***
Sonnet 032 ***
Sonnet 033 ***
Sonnet 034 **
Sonnet 035 ***
Sonnet 036 **
Sonnet 041 *
Sonnet 045 **
Sonnet 046 ***
Sonnet 057 ***
Sonnet 059 ***
Sonnet 061 **
Sonnet 063 *
Sonnet 069 (use Bard's line for his birthday)
Sonnet 072 **
Sonnet 085 ***
Sonnet 086 *
Sonnet 087 ***
Sonnet 092 *
Sonnet 095 **
Sonnet 096 *
Sonnet 097 ***
Sonnet 098 ***
Sonnet 099 ***
Sonnet 104 **
Sonnet 106 *
Sonnet 107 ***
Sonnet 110 **
Sonnet 113 ***
Sonnet 115 **
Sonnet 117 ***
Sonnet 118 **
Sonnet 119 ***
Sonnet 122 **
Sonnet 133 ***
Sonnet 141 ***
Sonnet 142 ***
Sonnet 143 *
Sonnet 146 ***
Sonnet 147 *
Sonnet 148 **
Sonnet 149 ***
Sonnet 150 **