Shakespeare’s Sonnets
18 “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”
73 “That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behond
 from Romeo and Juliet
Sonnets: Subject Matter
 154 altogether
 1-17 – urge a young man to get married
and have babies
 18 -126 – human mortality and
immortality of poetry
 127 154 The dark lady sequence
(e.g. 116 -- Let me not to the marriage of
true mind Admit impediments
-- 130 “My mistress' eyes are nothing like
the sun” _
18 “Shall I Compare Thee to a
Summer’s Day”
Two Kinds of Summer
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (about 1527-1593)
source
18. “Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day?” by Shakespeare
Spondee
Images of decay;
Repetition &
contrast?
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;
(trim: To make neat, or to adjust or balance a ship)
* Summer – temporary (with a lease), sun = the eye of heaven, with a face
* Changes and decay = regular sometimes, chancy and irregular sometimes
“Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day?” by Shakespeare
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.
1. ow’st – own, possess
2. This – the poem
“Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day?” by Shakespeare
1st reading:
汝比夏日更美﹐更溫和﹐更長久﹐
只要汝長存與我詩中。
Poetic device:
Hyperbole: thou grow’st in these eternal lines
repetition: Every fair from fair;
See contradictions in the next slide
Apparent Contradictions
in Stanza 1
1) Thou art more lovely and more temperate
2) Thy eternal summer
1) Summer’s
images of beauty
(Rough winds vs.) the
darling buds of May
every fair from fair
sometime declines
2) Images of
transience or
violence:
Rough winds shakes
summer's lease . .. too
short a date
too hot the eye of heaven
[Sun’s] gold complexion
dimm'd
Actual Similarities and Ambiguities
in Stanza 2
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.
1. Two “Nor’s” – made possible by the poem;
2. That fair thou ow’st vs. every fair from fair; “ow’st” = grow’st
 You owe your immortality to this poem
As always, the closing couplet is the punch line which
not only defines the meaning of the whole poem,
but also provides richer meanings.
Howard Moss (1922-1987)
"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day"
Who says you're like one
of the dog days?
You're nicer. And better.
Even in May, the weather
can be gray,
And a summer sub-let
doesn't last forever.
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
Dog days = (三伏天 )
Sub-let – 分租 allow some one to rend a room
which you are renting from someone else  who is the first tenant?
Howard Moss (1922-1987)
"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day"
Sometimes the sun's
too hot;
Sometimes it is not.
Who can stay young forever?
People break their necks or just
drop dead!
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
Howard Moss's
"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day"
But you? Never!
If there‘s just one condensed
reader left
Who can figure out the
abridged alphabet,
After you're dead and gone,
In this poem you'll live on!
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.
Condensed: reduced in length, thickened; reader: (讀者﹐讀本)
abridged alphabet （節錄字母﹚– cell phone literature?
Is immortality ever guaranteed? Even literature can be
forgotten or ignored.
That time of year thou mayst in
me behold
Sonnet 73
Sonnet 73
THE 1609 QUARTO VERSION
THat time of yeeare thou maiſt in me behold,
When yellow leaues,or none,or fewe doe hange
Vpon thoſe boughes which ſhake againſt the could,
Bare rn'wd quiers,where late the ſweet birds ſang.
In me thou ſeeſt the twi-light of ſuch day,
As after Sun-ſet fadeth in the Weſt,
Which by and by blacke night doth take away,
Deaths ſecond ſelfe that ſeals vp all in reſt
In me thou ſeeſt the glowing of ſuch fire,
That on the aſhes of his youth doth lye,
As the death bed,whereon it muſt expire,
Conſum'd with that which it was nurriſht by.
This thou perceu'ſt,which makes thy loue more ſtrong,
To loue that well,which thou muſt leaue ere long.
1.
Sonnet 73
2.
Development of imagery; metaphor &
similes
Sound effects? caesura and spondaic
rhythm?
/
/
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do
hang
Upon those boughs which shake against
the cold,
/Bare /ruin'd /choirs, where late the sweet
birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take
away,
/
/
/
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
1.
Sonnet 73
2.
Development of imagery; metaphor &
similes
Sound effects? caesura and spondaic
rhythm?
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
/ whereon it must expire
As the /death-bed
/
Consumed with/that which
it was
nourish'd by.
/ This thou
/
perceivest, which makes thy
/
love /more strong,
/
/
To love that well which thou must leave
ere long.
This and that
This: mortality autumn,
A few leaves bare choir
Twilight  sunset  black
night and all in rest
extinguishing Fire  ashes
evening
fire
that = that person, me, the poet. Alternatively - your
youth and freshness which is doomed to the same fate.
well - could include a pun on Will, the poet's name.
(source)
How is this poem different from
“To His Coy Mistress”?
“That Time of Year”
“To His Coy Mistress”
 Time and energies –
 Contrast between lack of
diminishing
time/space and the
imaginary ones
 I will parish.
 The lady will parish;
 Time = natural phenomena
graphic images of the tomb
 Ambiguity (love “that” well)
 Time –wing’d chariot;
morning dew, transpiring
soul
 Enjoy time to the fullest (in
sexual terms)
 “To His Coy Mistress”
“That Time of Year”
The Renaissance concepts of the duality of
microcosm and macrocosm
The speaker places himself in the universe of changes
and uses winter/day/fire to parallel the end of his life.
The fire can also be the funereal pyre(火葬堆) where
his body is turned to dust.
No witticism of in the play of transient “summer”
and “thy eternal summer” (as in “Shall I Compare
Thee to a Summer’s Day?”)
Romeo & Juliet
the Courting Sonnet
Act I, Scene V
Love at First Sight (I, v, 41-53)
ROMEO [To a Servingman]
Seen across a crowded room:
What lady is that, which doth enrich the hand
Of yonder knight?
Context – Benvolio (I, i, 226)
have brought Romeo to the
Masque so that he will see
other women, and thus have his
mind taken off his obsession
Rosalinde – likewise, Capulet
has brought Paris there under
the same advice (I, ii, 31)
Servant
I know not, sir.
ROMEO
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
The irony is, therefore, that
once they set eyes on each
other, they see no-one else –
establishing their own personal
PRIVATE SPACE within the
PUBLIC realm of the masque.
TYBALT This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
source
Metaphors?
ROMEO [To JULIET]
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Act I, v, 92 – 106
a
b
a
b
JULIET Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, c
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
d
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
c
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
d
ROMEO Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
e
JULIET Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
f
ROMEO O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
e
f
JULIET Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake. g
ROMEO Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. g (kiss)
Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.
Act I, v, 92 – 106
JULIET
Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
ROMEO
Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.
JULIET
You kiss by the book.
Images: religious
1. Romeo -- hands’ and lips’ pilgrimage:
 Profane: (verb) to treat something sacred, holy,
or special with abuse.
 Shrine= Juliet or her hand: (noun) a place
where pilgrims visit to pray to and worship a
saint. Usually with a statue or relic of a saint.
 Pilgrim or Palmer (a person wearing two
crossed palm leaves as a sign of pilgrimage to
the Holy Land.)
 Puns: palm– hand, palm leaves
Conceit: Extended and Developed
Metaphor of pilgrimage and purgation
Juliet’s argument
1. Juliet= a HOLY SHRINE.
2. Juliet -- “Good pilgrim” =
Romeo; saint = Juliet;
holy palmers’ kiss = palm
to palm
3. Juliet = lips for prayer
4. Saints do not “move” –
initiate things, move.
5. Sin taken
6. Kiss by the book (sonnet,
rules, Bible)
Romeo’s argument
1. Romeo’s lips = TWO
BLUSHING PILGRIMS
 Romeo’s kiss on her hand =
GENTLE SIN
3. Romeo = use lips
4. “O, then, dear saint, let lips
do what hands do;” =
5. kiss  sin purged  (2nd
kiss) sin taken back.
(What’s the sin? Touching
her hand)
How is this poem different from
“The Flea”?
The Courting Sonnet
 Religious imagery (pilgrim,
shrine)
 Kiss – smooth the rough
touch, purge and takes the
sin.
 The lady – rebukes the
argument and then complies
with it.
“The Flea”
 Religious imagery (three in
one, cloister修道院)
 Flea = sacred union &
marriage and birth
 The lady – kills the flea,
which is used by the
speaker to change and win
the argument.
Courtly Love and Courting Sonnets
 Courtly Love – originated in the court,
the illicit love between a knight and
the queen as his lady (e.g. King
Arthur’s legends, Tristan and Iseult) ,
the love which inspires the knight to
go on a noble quest.
 the Petrarchan tradition of courtly
love poetry (Laura) e.g. common
paradoxes about courtly love such as
"sweet torment" and "shivering at
midsummer."
 Shakespeare: courting sonnets and
sonnets on love, poetry & mortality
 The Metaphysical Poetry –witty
seduction and platonic love.
Image source