Critical Analysis of Sonnet 18:
This sonnet certainly speaks of the poet’s beloved, but more than that it speaks
of his own poetry. He praises the beauty of his beloved but does so in the service
of his poetic craft. He knows that the individual human body cannot survive the
passage of time and that it will eventually fade away. As a result of the process of
aging, this body will die and decay, for man is mortal. It is said that to be born is
to die. Thus no man can literally escape death. However, the death of a single
man does not spell the death of the species. Man as a species will live on. And
because of that, man’s art will also live on. The poet knows that there is only one
way to become immortal, and that is through the creation of timeless art. He is
confident that his poetry will be read and held in high esteem for many
generations to come. That is why the people of whom he speaks in his poetry will
also live on. In this way, future readers of his poetry will get to know that there
was once a beautiful woman who was the poet’s muse and inspiration. Hence her
beauty may not literally survive, but the praise of that beauty in the poet’s words
can never fade away entirely.
Annotation of Sonnet 18:
Please note: N= noun, V=verb, Adj=Adjective, Adv=Adverb, P=Preposition,
Pr=Pronoun
Thee (Pr): An older form of the word “you”
Thou (Pr): An older form of the word “you”
Art (V): An older form of the word “are”
Temperate (Adj): Relating to or denoting a region or climate characterized by
mild temperatures
Rough (Adj): (Of weather or the sea) wild and Stormy
Buds (N): Plural form of the word “bud”, that is, a compact knob-like growth on a
plant which develops into a leaf, flower, or shoots
Lease (N): A contract by which one party conveys land, property, services, etc. to
another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment
Hath (V): An older form of the word “has”
Complexion (N): The natural color, texture, and appearance of a person’s skin,
especially of the face
Dimmed (V): Past participle form of the word “dim”, that is, make or become less
bright or distinct
Fair (Adj): Beautiful
Declines (V): Third person present tense of the word “decline”, that is, (typically
of something regarded as good) to become smaller, fewer, or less; decrease
Course (N): The way in which something progresses or develops
Untrimmed (Adj): Not having been trimmed or cut away
Thy (Pr): An older form of the word “your”
Eternal (Adj): Lasting or existing forever; without end
Fade (V): Gradually grow faint and disappear
Possession (N): The state of having, owning, or controlling something
Ow’st (V): Short form of the word “owest” which is, in turn, an older form of the
word “owe”
Brag (V): Say something in a boastful manner
Wand’rest (V): Short form of the word “wanderest” which is, in turn, an older
form of the word “wander”
Grow’st (V): Short form of the word “growest” which is, in turn, an older form of
the word “grow”
Poetic Devices in Sonnet 18:
Rhyme scheme:
Sonnets typically occur in two types of rhyme schemes – in the pattern ABBA
ABBA CDE CDE, known as the Petrarchan sonnet, or in the pattern ABAB CDCD
EFEF GG, known as the Shakespearian sonnet. This sonnet is a typical
Shakespearean one, as it follows the rhyme scheme mentioned above in its
entirety without the slightest of deviation.
Rhetorical devices:
Apostrophe:
This rhetorical device is used when a poet addresses his or her poem to an absent
audience. In this poem, the poet uses the device of an apostrophe when he
addresses all his words to his beloved, whom we never see responding at any
point in the poem.
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Simile:
This rhetorical device is used when an overt comparison is made between two
different things. In this poem, the poet uses the device of simile in line 1 itself
when he makes a comparison between his beloved and a summer’s day and then
says it is not an appropriate comparison to make.
Metaphor:
This rhetorical device is used when a covert comparison is made between two
different things or ideas. In this poem, the poet uses the device of metaphor in
line 4 when he compares summer with a landlord who leases out his property
only for a short time. Again in line 5, he compares the sun with the eye of heaven.
In line 6, he compares the color of the sun with that of gold. Finally, in line 9, he
compares the youth and beauty of his beloved with the summer season.
Personification:
This rhetorical device is used to bestow human qualities on something that is not
human. In this poem, the poet uses the device of personification with respect to
death in line 11, when he endows death with the human ability to brag.
Central Idea of Sonnet 18:
Nature is beautiful, but it is subject to change. On the other hand, the beauty of
the poet’s beloved is unchanging. However, that beauty is liable to disappear
with the death of his beloved. That is why the poet composes a poem whose
subject is that very beauty in order to immortalize it. He is sure that future
generations will read this poem and appreciate the beauty of which it speaks.
Themes of Sonnet 18:
Mutability of nature:
The poet begins this sonnet by asking whether he should compare his beloved to
a summer’s day, but does not wait for an answer. This is because he knows that
his beloved’s beauty is unchanging and timeless, whereas nature can be both
beautiful and terrifying, and that the change from one state to the other can
occur at any point in time. One day the sun’s light can illuminate and invigorate
the earth, while the next this light may fade away completely filling the sky with
clouds and the possibility of precipitation. Both of these faces of nature are
described aptly by the poet here.
Aging as a natural process:
While the poet clearly expresses his desire to immortalize the beauty of his
beloved, he does not deny that she will age with time. The poet knows that the
course of nature cannot be stopped, and that Time is a natural progression.
Hence, the ravages that time commits on the human race are also inescapable.
Therefore, he cannot stop his beloved from growing old or her physical body
from decaying. However, one death or two does not mean that the entire human
species will come to an end. Man will live on, and so will art. That is precisely why
the poet chooses to immortalize his beloved through the medium of poetry.
Self-reflexivity:
Self-reflexivity is the process by which an artist refers to his own art. That is
exactly what the poet does in the last line of this sonnet by referring to his poem
as “this”. He is intensely aware of the value that his own poetry can accord to
something. He knows that his poetry can, in fact, make his beloved immortal. This
kind of self-awareness is a sign of reflexivity, and it is very rare in works dating
back prior to the 21st century. Hence this shows how modern Shakespeare was as
a writer, and how he has influenced all later generations of writers as well.
The Tone of Sonnet 18:
The tone of this poem vacillates between pessimism and optimism. On the one
hand, the poet talks about how nothing is permanent – how the weather
changes, how the earth goes through various seasons one after the other, and
how the human body must age and die. On the other hand, the poet also asserts
the immortality of art. Art is, for Shakespeare, eternal. He knows that long after he
is gone, his poetry will continue to be read and appreciated.
Conclusion:
Sonnet 18 is one of the best-known sonnets of Shakespeare. This is because it
upholds many of the themes that are found in his other sonnets as well – the
changing course of nature, the brevity of human life, and the permanence of
great art. These themes are even echoed in the best known of his plays. It is these
themes that make Shakespeare the great writer that he is, for these themes are
relatable to all his readers.
The main purpose of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is embodied in the
end couplet:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
The sonneteer's purpose is to make his love's beauty and, by
implication, his love for her, eternal. In doing so, he takes a rather
circuitous pathway by beginning with a comparison that does not
describe her.
In the first two quatrains, he is essentially saying, "No, I cannot compare
you to a summer's day, and here's why." The last two lines of the first
quatrain,
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
along with the whole second quatrain (four lines of poetry with
alternating rhyme) explain why she can not be compared to a summer's
day. For instance, "rough winds" do not shake her beauty and her
beauty is not sometimes dimmed as even the mighty sun's glory is
sometimes dimmed:
[that] too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold ... dimm'd;
The third quatrain, beginning with the contradictory conjunction "but,"
begins the explanation that leads up to the main purpose expressed in
the ending couplet (two rhyming lines of poetry). In this final quatrain, the
sonneteer says "But ..." your beauty shall be an "eternal summer" and
shall not fade nor be dimmed so that even Death shall not rob your
beauty.
Then comes the implied "because" of the couplet that explains that as
long as Sonnet 18 can be read, then she will have beauty and she will
have life eternal.
Title: I believe that William Shakespeare didn’t give this a title because he wants the readers to
evoke their own emotion about this Sonnet. Rather than giving it a gloomy or happy title he let the
reader decide how to feel at the end.
Paraphrase: In the beginning seven lines, Shakespeare talks about the beauty of summer and how it
never lasts and can change “And every fair from fair sometimes declines”. Another part of the sonnet
also shows this “And every fair from fair sometime declines”. In the last couple lines however he talks
about how the person he is writing about beauty will never fade and because of his poem they will
live eternally. “Nor lose possession of thou wander’st in his shade…. When in eternal lines to time
thou grow’st”.
Connotation: One thing William Shakespeare does at the end of every line is he puts some type of
divide. Whether it is a comma, semicolon, or a period. I think he does this to make it all flow and
combine well together giving off an emotion. It’s sort of like he is pausing for a dramatic effect. In
the end he uses some assonance to sort of show how they will live forever be remembered by using
that repeated “So long”. He also has a rhyme scheme and some slant rhyme maybe to add more of a
rhythm .
Attitude: This sonnet is very dramatic, and heartfelt in a sense. He is saying that there is nothing to
compare this person to. Summer will fade away and no longer be beautiful, but this person will
forever be beautiful. And he portrays that in some of the words he chooses.
Shift: Around lines eight and nine you get the shift because he goes from talking about the
temporary beauty of summer to the everlasting beauty of the person. “But they eternal summer shall
not fade. Nor lose possession of fair thou ow’st”. And the mood shifts from basically dissing summer
to talking about beauty.
Title: I still believe that Shakespeare wanted this sonnet to provoke an emotion. Either that or he
thought this sonnet didn’t need a title he wanted it to speak for itself.
Theme: Beauty will eventually fade except in the eyes of someone who loves
you.
“Sonnet 18” written by William Shakespeare, commonly known as “Shall I compare thee
to a summer’s day”, is one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets. Like most of
Shakespeare’s sonnets, “Sonnet 18” is written in Shakespearean sonnet form, which is
twelve lines of iambic pentameter and ending with a rhyming couplet. Beauty is a
running theme in “Sonnet 18”, showing that Shakespeare places a lot on the beauty in a
lover. Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare is comparing his lover to a summer’s day,
while coming to the conclusion that his lover is much better than summer.
Shakespeare is the speaker of “Sonnet 18”, and he is addressing his lover. Shakespeare
asks his lover “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (line one) and precedes to
compare his lover to summer. Shakespeare writes “Thou art more lovely and more
temperate: /Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” (lines two – three),
meaning that his lover is lovelier and calmer than the rough winds of May that shake the
baby flower buds. The second quatrain describes what makes summer unappealing
compared to the lover. “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his
gold complexion dimm’d:” (lines five – six) says how sometimes the sun is too hot but
the sunshine is often dimmed, and the uncertainty of what the sun will bring is
unappealing unlike the certainty of the lover’s unfading beauty. The third quatrain, “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” (lines nine – twelve), explain how the lover’s beauty will never fade and that
death cannot take their beauty away because the lover owns their beauty. In the ending
couplet, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives
life to thee.” (lines thirteen – fourteen), Shakespeare is telling his lover that their beauty
will live on through the poem as long as people are living. By the constant reference to
eternal beauty, a reader can infer that Shakespeare places beauty highly when
considering a lover and that perhaps beauty is all Shakespeare considers when looking
for a lover.
“Sonnet 18” has the traditional form for most of Shakespeare’s sonnets; twelve lines of
iambic pentameter followed by a rhyming couplet. The twelve lines of iambic
pentameter are delivered in the form of three quatrains. Each quatrain’s idea flows
smoothly to each other; from introducing the rhetorical question of comparing this lover
to a summer’s day to listing all the reasons summer does not compare to the lover to
finally stating how the lover’s eternal beauty shall not fade and will live on forever
through the sonnet. The three quatrains follow the abab cdcd efef rhyme scheme and
the ending couplet has a gg rhyme scheme. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can
see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (lines thirteen – fourteen) has the
common ending couplet gg rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet.
The most prominent figure of speech used in “Sonnet 18” is the extended metaphor
comparing Shakespeare’s lover to a summer’s day throughout the whole sonnet. “Shall
I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate:” (lines
one – two) is the immediate metaphor; saying that the lover is calmer than a summer’s
day. Comparing the lover’s beauty to an eternal summer, “But thy eternal summer shall
not fade” (line nine) is a metaphor inside the sonnet-long extended metaphor. Along
with the extended metaphor running throughout the whole sonnet, Shakespeare also
uses imagery. “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” (line three) brings the
image of rough, heavy winds destroying small, delicate, helpless newly sprouted flowers
of springtime. “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,” (line five) invokes the
image of a scorching hot summer day. “And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,” (line
six) can either bring a summer sun hidden by the dreary rain clouds or the daily
disappearance of the sun caused by the rising moon to the reader’s mind depending on
how they may interpret that line. Besides metaphors and imagery, Shakespeare uses
symbolism to describe how his lover compares to the seasons other than summer.
Throughout the sonnet there is symbolism to the four seasons, starting with spring
in line three, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May’, which represents
being born or rebirth. Summer, line four “And summer’s lease hath all too short a
date:” can represent youth and how being youthfully beautiful does not last as
long as some people would like. Lines seven – eight, “And every fair from fair
sometime declines, / By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;” represent
autumn and the uncontrollable transition from youth to adulthood. “Nor shall
Death brag thou wandr’st in his shade” (line eleven) symbolizes death and the end
of things. Shakespeare’s lover’s beauty is represented here, except their beauty
defies the ending of summer, the change of autumn, and the death of winter; the
lover is eternally youthful and beautiful.
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” is a sonnet written to preserve his lover’s beauty for
all eternity as stated in the final two lines, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, /
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (lines thirteen – fourteen). A reader can
come to the conclusion that Shakespeare values beauty above other qualities when
looking for a lover because beauty is the only characteristic mentioned in the sonnet.
More specifically, Shakespeare writes about a lover with eternal beauty, showing that
beauty is truly all he is looking for in a lover. While “Sonnet 18” is one of Shakespeare’s
best known sonnets, and has some beautifully written lines, it tells the story of a
superficial affair based solely on the never fading beauty of Shakespeare’s lover.