Sonnet Sonnet--- a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean sonnet consist of three quatrains and a concluding couplet, with the rhymed scheme abab cdcd efef gg.

Sonnet 18 It is one of the most beautiful sonnets written by Shakespeare, the poet holds that the poetry will bring eternity to the one he loves. A nice summer’s day is usually short, but the beauty in poetry can last for ever. Thus Shakespeare has a faith in the permanence of poetry.

Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? The first line, a question, proposes a comparison between Shakespeare's beloved and a summer season. Summer is chosen because it is lovely and pleasant. Thou art more lovely and more temperate: In the second line the comparison is restricted: in outward appearance and character the beloved person is more beautiful and less extreme than summer. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all to short a date. Legal terminology. The summer holds a lease on part of the year, but the lease is too short, and has an early termination (date). Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shine, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; The reasons for the restriction are given in the four lines which describe the less pleasant aspects of summer.

And every fair from fair sometime declines; By chance, or nature changing course untrimmed; In the seventh and eighth lines Shakespeare complains that every beauty will fade one day. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, The ninth line takes up the comparison with summer again: summer has by now become the summer of life. The comparison turns into a contrast by referring back to the seventh. 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, The poet's assurance becomes even firmer in lines eleven and twelve, which contain a promise that death will be conquered. 'Eternal lines' refers to lines of poetry. So long as man breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. It explains and summarizes the theme: poetry is immortal and makes beauty immortal.

Theme of Sonnet 18 The theme of the sonnet --- a profound meditation on the destructive power of time & the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves.

Sonnet 29 In this poem, the poem first complains of his own miseries and dissatisfaction in life and then becomes happy upon the thought of the one he loves.

Sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone be weep my outcast state, And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, look upon myself: engage in self-contemplation Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least: Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, in these thoughts: while I am engaged in these thoughts myself almost despising: and almost considering myself to be despicable for being so cast down.

Haply I think on thee,--and then my state Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; Like to the lark at break of day arising / from sullen earth: This is a great line both in content and in technique. Shakespeare has been feeling lonely and isolated, but the moment he thinks of his friend he is full of joy. He is comparing the change of his mood to skylark which is rising from the dark dawn-lit earth to the sky,singing “hymns at heaven’s gate". For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.