Mrs. O’Connor
January 22, 2014
Section 5
Model Sonnet Essay
In “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare, the poet explores the universal ideas of beauty,
time, and art. In quatrain one, the speaker suggests that comparing his beloved to the summer is
ineffective because summer is imperfect, unlike his love. When he writes “Thou art more lovely
and more temperate,” his use of the word “temperate” suggests that the subject of the poem is
more gentle than the unpredictable weather of the summer months. He then points out that
summer’s “lease hath all too short a date,” which means that the summer season comes to an end
too quickly as the fall months approach. By highlighting summer’s flaws, the poet illustrates how
the beauty of his beloved is unique and superior.
In quatrain two, the poet underscores the fact that time is a strong force that has the
power to destroy beauty, in both nature and humans. The poet claims, “ And every fair from fair
sometime declines, / By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed,” implying that all
beauty is only temporary and eventually fades, either by accident or by the changing of the
seasons. In this context, the word “untrimmed” means unchanged; thus, “nature’s changing
course” unchanged refers to the natural, unstoppable flow of time. As it passes, all natural
elements and all people age, losing their beauty in the process.
The third quatrain marks a shift in the poem because the poet offers an exception to the
statement he previously established. He confidently asserts that his beloved’s youth and beauty
will live on forever through his poetry, which has the power to immortalize her. The poet argues,
“Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,” personifying death as an agent of time that is
only so influential, for there is a third force protecting his beloved—the poet’s “eternal lines to
time.” The “lines” he mentions refer to his poetry; they are set to a specific “time,” the poem’s
meter, and in them the beloved “grow’st,” or continues to live. Therefore, the poet implies that
his writing is even more powerful than time itself.
Finally, in the couplet, the poet reveals his overall message, which is really a fuller
admission of line 12. Time has a great hold on both nature and humans, but poetry resists its
control. As a much stronger force, poetry has the ability to immortalize people in a way that time
cannot. And consequently, the poet, as the creator of the poem, defies the laws of time. When he
declares “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/So long lives this and this gives life to
thee,” the reader uncovers the true focus of the poem: the poetry itself. This bold statement
suggests that the poet’s words will always be read because they are so powerful. “How could
anyone resist these lines?” he seems to question. And if his words are impossible to resist, then it
follows that, with each reading, the subject of the poem—no matter what or who it is—is kept
alive. After a close reading of “Sonnet 18,” readers gain a better understanding of Shakespeare’s
attitude towards writing: while all other beauty may fade, the beauty a poet’s words create lives
on for generations.