William Shakespeare 1564-1616

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William Shakespeare1564-1616

• Sonnet 18

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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.

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Sonnet 18

• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? a
• Thou art more lovely and more temperate b
• Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, a
• And summer's lease hath all too short a
  date b
• Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c
• And often is his gold complexion dimm'd d
• And every fair from fair sometime declines, c
• By chance or nature's changing course
  untrimm'd d
• But thy eternal summer shall not fade e
• Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest f
• Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his
  shade, e
• When in eternal lines to time thou growest f
• So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g
• So long lives this and this gives life to
  thee. g

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What Is The Poet Saying?

• Compares his friend to a summers day
• Thou art more lovely and more temperate
  (2)
• Conclusion
• His friend is better than a summers day
• Proves this by discussing the downfalls of summer

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Downfalls of Summer

• Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
  (3)
• Sometimes summer is too windy
• And summers lease hath all too short a date.
  (4)
• Summer does not last long enough

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Downfalls of Summer

• Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines (5)
• Sometimes the sun is too hot in summer
• And often is his gold complexion dimmed. (6)
• Sometimes the face of the sun is covered with
  clouds

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Downfalls of Summer

• And every fair from fair sometime
  declines, By chance or natures changing
  course untrimmed. (7-8)
• The beauty of summer eventually fades
• Accidentally
• The constant change of nature (summer to fall)

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Downfalls of Summer

• Note that the downfalls of summer occur in the
  first two quatrains of the sonnet
• Lines 1-8

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Third Quatrain

• Volta
• Focus is now on the positive characteristics of
  his friend as opposed to the negative
  characteristics of summer

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Positive Characteristics Of His Friend

• But thy eternal summer shall not fade
  (9)
• His friends summer is everlasting and will not
  disappear
• Summerbeauty and youth
• Obviously not true

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Positive Characteristics Of His Friend

• Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest
  (10)
• His friend will never give up ownership of beauty
• Obviously not true

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Positive Characteristics Of His Friend

• Nor shall Death brag thou wanderst in his
  shade (11)
• His friend will never die
• Obviously not true

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Positive Characteristics Of His Friend

• When in eternal lines to time thou growst.
  (12)
• Suggests that his friend will grow or exist
  within the lines of the poem
• Eternaleverlasting
• hinting at the everlasting nature of the poem

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Couplet

• So long as men can breath, or eyes can
  see, So long lives this and this gives
  life to thee. (13-14)
• As long as humans exist, this sonnet will exist
• Confident about his poetry

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Couplet

• Any time someone reads this sonnet, a youthful,
  beautiful person is visualized
• Therefore, Shakespeare has granted eternal youth
  and beauty to his friend

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Poetic Devices

• Shakespearean Sonnet
• Rhyme Scheme
• abab cdcd efef gg
• 3 quatrains and a couplet

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Poetic Devices

• Shakespearean Sonnet
• MeterIambic Pentameter
• ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
  ? ?
• Shall I compare thee to a summers day?

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Poetic Devices

• Personification
• Nor shall Death brag (11)

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Poetic Devices

• Imagery
• Nature imagery (summer) dominates the poem

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Poetic Devices

• Tone
• First two quatrains
• temporary tone
• Sad
• Third quatrain
• permanent tone
• Uplifting

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Poetic Devices

• Theme
• Immortality
• Eternal beauty

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Poetic Devices

• Alliteration
• hot the eye of heaven shines (5)

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Poetic Devices

• Metaphor
• eye of heaven (5)
• represents the sun