Sonnet 18 Poem Analysis

Sonnets are some of the greatest poetry to be written for British literature. The sonnets written by William Shakespeare are like no other because they have the extraordinary choice of a beautiful young man rather than it being the lady as the object of praise. As well as that, there is the decision of an older lady who is dark, sensuous, and sexually promiscuous rather the women having the more common characteristics of blonde hair, blue eyes and younger woman. These sonnets are fourteen line poems normally with a rhyme scheme. The speaker throughout all the sonnets is not equal to the author. Sonnet cycle is a group of sonnets, they may have themes, but love is the most common which is used by William Shakespeare. Throughout the sonnets

1172), this demonstration shows how summer is one the shortest season just like the young man’s youth. Correspondingly, a theme that is used is sonnet 18 is death, the first way it is revealed is through the young man’s youth is external and it will always live on. Additionally, the theme time and death are in the last two lines, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee” (Greenblatt et al. 1172), this expresses that the poem will live on forever as long there are people alive. Research from “Sonnets of Shakespeare” displays “Shakespeare’s sense of the ravages of time leads him to a second important theme: Poetry, as well as heirs, can confer immortality” (Masterplots, Fourth

Students ask these sorts of questions after reading this sonnet. There is not an answer to this question it just a debate that is brought up over and over again. A questionable section is, “Much steals men 's eyes and women 's souls amazeth” (Greenblatt et al. 1173), everybody likes the guy so does Shakespeare after writing about so much beauty about the young man. However, the poem is not about the Shakespeare sexuality it is about the lust and love, “Students also need the opportunity to theorize that this poem is not about sexual orientation at all, that whether Shakespeare was gay or straight may be less important than how the poet is using the tropes of gender to evidence the irrationality of his desire in the face of the blindness of his love” (Charles, 2). The theme lust takes place at the end of the sonnet Shakespeare expresses how woman are here for pleasure, “But since she prick 'd thee out for women 's pleasure” (Greenblatt et al. 1173). He is a man given the parts to pleasure a woman so he should do so. Last of all for sonnet 20 the last sentence is about love, how the young man should have the woman’s love because it is