AP English Literature and Composition
“Sonnet 18”
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
This sonnet is typical of Shakespeare’s use of the English form of the sonnet with its rhyme scheme of abab cdcd
efef gg. In “Sonnet 78,” the first few lines reflect on the theme of his writings, and the last two lines bring the
sonnet to a conclusion.
(1) Shakespearean (English) sonnets.
a. Has three quatrains and a couplet, and rhymes abab cdcd efef gg.
b. Introduces a subject in the first quatrain, expands it in the second, and once more in the third.
c. Conclusion is in the couplet
(2) Italian sonnets
a. Composed of an octave (8 lines), rhyming abbbaabba, and a sestet, rhyming cdecde or cdcdcd, or
in some variant pattern with no closing couplet.
b. Develops the idea in the first 8 lines, creating a volta or “turn” in the 9 th, before moving to the
conclusion in the last 6 lines.
Going back to “Sonnet 18”
1. Count the number of lines: _________
2. The “endmarks” determine a sonnet’s thoughts. What are they? ____ _____ ____ _____ _____
3. A Shakespearean sonnet is introduced by the “hypothesis,” followed by the “thesis,” and concluded in the
resolution in the couplet. What three thoughts are explicated in this poem?
AP English Literature and Composition
A.
B.
C.
4.
5.
6.
Now, observe the mechanics of the sonnet. As you read the first line, try to listen for the stressed and
unstressed syllables. Stressed syllables are “accented” (/) and unstressed syllables are unaccented ( ).
This pattern is called iamabic pentameter (when one soft syllable is followed by a hard syllable). Label the
sonnet accordingly.
What is the rhyme scheme? ________ _________ _________ ____.
Now, let’s address the meaning.
a. How does his love compare to a summer’s day?
b.
What does he mean by Summer’s lease? How does he compare love to it?
c.
What is the “eye of heaven”? What literary element is he making use of? What other literary
element is used in this thought?
d.
What is he trying to say about how his love compares to the “eye of heaven”?
e.
What is “nature’s changing course”? What statement is he making about it?
f.
“When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st” suggests what? How does it relate to the
“conclusion”?
g.
In your own words, what is this poem about? What is its tone and theme?