Theme Of Sonnet 18

747 Words2 Pages

William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" has been a remarkably famous love poem from the time it was written. This sonnet is pure exaggeration of Shakespeare's feelings towards his beloved and his beauty and is expressed through various language techniques and strong language. It has a powerful theme of love and immortalization of the subject in this sonnet. The sonnet begins with rhetorical question where the poet uses a metaphor to ask "shall I compare thee to a summers day?" the rhetorical question directs the attention of the reader. The effect of the metaphor, shows how the poet thought of comparing the subject to a summers day, but then rejects the comparison because the poet feels much strongly about the beloved to compare him to something with as flawed as summer. The readers can interpret through the language and form that the poet is obviously in love with the subject as he continuously deteriorates summer to prove the perfectness of his beloved.
The tone of the poem dramatically changes in the third quatrain. The poet no longer compares his beloved to a summers day, instead he signifies the importance of his beauty and youth. The poet metaphorically says "but thy eternal summer shall not fade". Summer can never be eternal, but the metaphor expresses the poets feelings towards the subject by saying that the subject shall be eternally beautiful. The beloved is eternalized further, as the poet says " When in eternal lines to time thou growest", immortalizing his love within the lines of this sonnet. The sonnet is also concluded by a metaphorical rhyming couplet. "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee" evidently shows that the sonnet is meant to preserve the beauty of the youn...

... middle of paper ...

... be seen that powerful and concentrated language was used several times in both poems. The language techniques such as imagery, personification, and metaphors which create an image for the reader and give them an understanding about the poem. They also express the poets intentions and feelings about their love for their loved ones. Shakespeare's "sonnet 18" used various language techniques and strong language to exaggerate the comparison of his beloved to a summers day and also sustain his beauty. "Funeral Blues" by W H Auden, also uses strong language and literary devices to create a visual and aural imagery for the reader. The use of the powerful and concentrated language and literary devices, in poetry allows readers to sympathize with the poet understand love being expressed in an intricate way. Hence, it can be seen that poetry is the perfect vehicle for love.

Open Document