SONNET 18
Dana Gallo
Ashley Gresko
Emily Price
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 owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.”
PARAPHRASE
Should I compare you to a day in summer?
You’re even prettier and warmer than a summer day.
The flower buds from May start to bloom, but summer will end
too soon.
The sun is sometimes too hot, even when it’s cloudy.
It’s a shame the season is changing because summer is so pretty.
Usually things change, but you will not; you will always be
beautiful.
You are so pretty that death wont want you or brag about having
you.
Even when death is approaching, as long as are remembered
through this poem, your beauty will never die.
ANALYSIS OF LITERARY DEVICES
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 owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
SUMMARY OR REVERSAL?
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.”
Sonnet 18 couplet is a summary
the entire poem discusses how her beauty will not fade.
 his opinion is consistent throughout the poem.
 the theme does not change and there is no ‘turn’ in any
part of the poem.

THEME
There are many
themes throughout
this sonnet but the
main idea is that her
beauty will not ever
change. Also, it
portrays that death
will not kill her
beauty. Shakespeare
believes that
through poetry, her
beauty will be
immortal.
EVIDENCE
Line 9 “But thy
eternal summer shall
not fade”
Line 13-14 “So long as
men can breathe or
eyes can see, So long
lives this and this gives
life to thee.”
Line 12 “When in
eternal lines to time
thou growest.”
SCANSION
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 owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
COMPARISON

A lot of Shakespeare's sonnets contain
beauty
 love
 seasons


“the time of year…when yellow leaves or none or few do
hang.”
constant use of metaphors
 death



focuses on how he will always remember his loves even
when they are gone.
comparisons of beauty

“…like a jewel hung in ghastly night”
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. Which aspects of a summer day are used in this
comparison with the beloved? Are any of them
favorable?
Pretty, warm, sunny, lovely which are all
favorable. But also too hot, and sometimes
cloudy.
2. According to the speaker, what will keep his
beloveds “eternal summer” from fading?
His poems will keep her beauty from fading.
3. Some readers feel that Shakespeare, in this
sonnet, was paying greater tribute to his poetry
than to his love. What do you think?
His main focus is on her beauty even though he
does refer to his poetry as a source of her
undying beauty.
4. The theme of Sonnet 18 is not a summer’s day,
nor even the comparison of the beloved to a
summer’s day. Think about the couplets
connection to the rest of the sonnet. Explain the
theme.
The ongoing comparison between summer and
his love describes how summer changes but
her beauty is never going to change.