In his most famous sonnet of all time William Shakespeare uses imagery, metaphors and changes in meter and tone to effectively communicate to his audience and to the recipient of this poem. Sonnet 18 is a classic love poem without a clear subject. One reason that this sonnet is so popular even today is Shakespeare’s first 17 sonnets were all written as if he was talking to a young man, but in this Sonnet he never comes out and establishes the sex of his subject leading some critics to assume that he was homosexual. Aside from the controversy another reason this Sonnet is so popular is because of its content. In a mere 14 lines Shakespeare was able to uses his prominence to demonstrate that his subject’s beauty, which he compares to a summer’s day, will live eternally.
Shakespeare opens up the sonnet with a rhetorical question asking his subject and the audience, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”. This unusual opening serves the purpose of foreshadowing what the first two stanzas are going to revolve around, how his subject’s beauty compares to a summer day’s. In the ensuing seven lines Shakespeare tells the audience exactly what is wrong with summer when compared to his subject. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate”, Shakespeare is simply saying that the summers in England just are not very beautiful if compared to his subject he then supports this by letting us know how inconsistent the weather is. This could possibly be a reference to the particularly harsh summer storms of 1588 which damaged and sunk many Spanish and Royal Navy ships which lines up with when Shakespeare could have written the sonnet. In the very next line Shakespeare possibly references the storms of 1588 again in, “Rough winds do shake the darling...
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...ghteous to be sent to hell. In the next line Shakespeare tells his subject that the lines of this poem will live forever which is likely how the subject would live on forever, “When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st”. Lastly Shakespeare in his final Couplet comes out and says what he has been touching on throughout the poem that the subject will live eternally through his poem. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” Assuming that his poem will be read as long as it was possible anyone could read it. This last couplet also tells the reason the subject continues to live, because he or she is captured in this Sonnet, and this sonnet will live eternally because of Shakespeare’s fame.
Works Cited
"Shakespeare Sonnet 18 - Shall I compare thee to a summer's day." Shakespeare Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day; contains many metaphors; Shakespeare compares his love to the beauty of a summers day; “Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. In My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun, he is basically saying that his mistress does not compare to others but he still loves her just the same. For example, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” and “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, as any she belied with false compare” (DiYanni, 2008, pg
In this sonnet, Shakespeare is creating a mental picture of spring and summer to compare against his loved one. He uses the fact that fine and beautiful days are the creation of nature, and nature is constantly changing all the time. Fine days never stay the same: 'rough winds' or the sun obscured by clouds, 'and often is his gold complexion dim'd', can easily mar a fine day. He talks about these negative factors of change in the first eight lines, and Shakespeare then uses these ideas to claim that his loved one will always remain untarnished, speaking of how 'thy eternal summer shall not fade' and how his loved one has lasting qualities that will outshine death: 'Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade' These thoughts come to a confident, final... ... middle of paper ... ...
In this sonnet “That time of year thou may’st in me behold” Shakespear uses nature to describe life’s stages, while painting a vivid picture of nature in autumn, we can see his state of mind when using metaphors. The author intertwines nature, time, life, aging, and death in such broadness that the personal reactions and perceptions of the poem are broad as well, as a good metaphor does.
One of the poems that William Shakespeare wrote is called “That time of year thou mayst in me behold.” It is also known as William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73. This Sonnet is viewed as being comprised of metaphors, which capture the struggle of life. Life in which there is an end to everything but beauty within it. The speaker within this poem is one that reflects on his life and how nature is closely connected with his journey. In order to understand the theme of the poem, the reader must first recognize and understand the three major metaphors within the poem.
Shakespeare, William. "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?." 1894. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. By X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th ed. Boston: Longman, 2010. 501. Print. Compact Edition.
Both Sonnets have different styles. Sonnet 18 is a much more traditional poem, showing the reader a picture of his muse in the most divine way. Shakespeare uses a complex metaphor of comparing his subject to the summer, but at the same time making it easy to understand. The poet goes as traditional as possible; his friend surpasses the beauty of summer, as summer will fade and turn to winter. Sonnet 130 is just as easy to understand as the former. The use of straightforward comparisons that go from line to line, instead of one metaphor elaborated through the entire poem, makes this sonnet quite different in style. Sonnet 130, in contradiction to Sonnet 18, purposefully branches off from the traditional romantic love poem for he does not describe the subject as a true beauty but as his true love.
What a beginning to a great sonnet. This sonnet, understood quite will in the first quatrain, presents a few difficulties throughout the second and third quatrains. This is obviously addressed to a loved one, more specifically a woman who Shakespeare loved. 5: 'This period of separation from you was due to summer', where "summer's time" signifies his youth, moreover, his sexual prime. 6: 'Overflowing autumn [his middle age] is rich with children produced from luxuriant [or frolicsome] experiences of my youth'. Line 8 closes this quatrain with a more happy than mournful meaning, for the widowed reveres the child even more after the father's death. In line 9, I read "abundant issue" as 'topic of general debate or concern', referring to the "lords' decease" in line 8, but it could also mean a person capable of bearing many children, either the addressee or the woman of his prime, or even Shakespeare himself. If the first, then it is addressed to more than one person and is a result of his absence--he is not able to produce children, only obtain orphans. But if the second, it modifies his hope for orphans. If Shakespeare is the "abundant issue" then this is a fine reading; however, if the "abundant issue" is the child of the widow, this poses a problem because it faults logic to say that the mother is widowed "Yet" her child is an orphan.
At the time of its writing, Shakespeare's one hundred thirtieth sonnet, a highly candid, simple work, introduced a new era of poems. Shakespeare's expression of love was far different from traditional sonnets in the early 1600s, in which poets highly praised their loved ones with sweet words. Instead, Shakespeare satirizes the tradition of comparing one's beloved to the beauties of the sun. From its opening phrase "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun", shocks the audience because it does not portray a soft, beautiful woman. Despite the negative connotations of his mistress, Shakespeare speaks a true woman and true love. The sonnet is a "how-to" guide to love.
The first line is “When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes.” The very first word shows that the condition which will be explored in the sonnet is a temporary thing. It comes and goes like a beggar or like an outcast. Shakespeare used the word “when” to put the reader into the time that will be referred to. It automatically calls to mind an occurrence, and it makes the reader continue into the piece, trying to find out what Shakespeare will make occur. The next words are “in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes.” It seems that Shakespeare’s persona is down on his luck. Fortune, noticeably, is capitalized. This makes it a proper noun, a name perhaps. Shakespeare, on the other hand, could be trying to show the reader that fortune is something important, something that has power and meaning. Continuing into the line, “men’s eyes” appears. Notice that it is men’s eyes, not women’s eyes or man’s eyes. The latter, man’s eyes, would make it seem as if the persona was in disgrace with all of mankind, yet Shakespeare specifically chose to have disgrace in “men’s eyes.” This sh...
In William Shakespeare’s sonnet “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” the audience is introduced to a poem in which he himself goes into depth about the person he is infatuated with. The author does not give any type of hints telling the audience who the poem is towards because it can be for both male and female. That’s the interesting part about William Shakespeare’s work which is to second hand guess yourself and thinking otherwise. Making you think and think rational when you read his work. The sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summers day” is one of his most famous and published poem. Shakespeare’s tone of voice at the commence of the poem is somewhat relaxed and joyful because he is going on talking about the person he is intrigued by. Throughout the passage Metaphors, similes and imagery can all be found in the poem itself
William Shakespeare's sonnets deal with two very distinct individuals: the blond young man and the mysterious dark-haired woman. The young man is the focus of the earlier numbered sonnets while the latter ones deal primarily with the dark-haired woman. The character of the young man and a seductive mistress are brought together under passionate circumstances in Shakespeare's "Sonnet 42." The sexual prowess of the mistress entangles both Shakespeare and the young man in her web of flesh. This triangular sonnet brings out Shakespeare's affection for both individuals. His narcissistic ideal of delusional love for the young man is shown through diction and imagery, metrical variation and voice, contained in three quatrains and one couplet.
In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, also known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” represents and discusses the love and beauty of his beloved. Also, the speaker refers to his love more sweet, temperate, and fair than all the beauty that he can see in nature. He also speaks how the sun can be dim and that nature’s beauty is random: “And often is his gold complexion dimm’d / And every fair from fair sometimes declines” (6-7). At the end of the poem the speaker explains that they beauty of the person that is being mentioned is not so short because, his love with live as long as people are still reading this sonnet. The beauty of his beloved with last longer than nature, because although nature is beautiful flowers and other things still have to die: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see / so long lives this and this gives life to thee” (13-14) Also, the speaker is comparing his love to a summer’s day, but does not really say anything specific or that the qualities given to his beloved are more superior to a summer’s day, which can allow the reader to understand that his beloved can stay young, beautiful, and never going to die.
Shakespeare addresses his first 126 sonnets to the same fair man. Sonnet 18, by far one of the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets, was written to illustrate his love and adoration for the man. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate" (18.1-2). The first few lines of this sonnet place vivid images in the readers mind about a beautiful and sweet tempered person. Most readers be...
Shakespeare’s sonnets include love, the danger of lust and love, difference between real beauty and clichéd beauty, the significance of time, life and death and other natural symbols such as, star, weather and so on. Among the sonnets, I found two sonnets are more interesting that show Shakespeare’s love for his addressee. The first sonnet is about the handsome young man, where William Shakespeare elucidated about his boundless love for him and that is sonnet 116. The poem explains about the lovers who have come to each other freely and entered into a relationship based on trust and understanding. The first four lines reveal the poet’s love towards his lover that is constant and strong and will not change if there any alternation comes. Next four lines explain about his love which is not breakable or shaken by the storm and that love can guide others as an example of true love but that extent of love cannot be measured or calculated. The remaining lines of the third quatrain refer the natural love which can’t be affected by anything throughout the time (it can also mean to death). In the last couplet, if
The Sonnet 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day “ is around the most admired and prominent of the 154 poems of William Shakespeare . Most researchers concur that the true recipient of the lyric, the mate of pleasant toward oneself, whom the artist is composing, is a man, however the sonnet is generally used to portray a lady. In the piece, the pleasant toward oneself contrasts his adoration with a June through August, and contends that his affection is superior to summer (Kennedy & Gioia). He additionally states that your beau will live everlastingly through the expressions of the lyric. Researchers have discovered parallels between this poem and sonnets Tristia and Amores of Ovid . A few interpretations have uncovered a few twofold implications inside the lyric, providing for it a more amazing profundity of understanding.