Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day? By William Shakespeare

SONNET Means ‘little song’ (Italian sonnetto) Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets! Sonnet 18 is his most famous Shakespearean sonnets: 14 lines Formed of 12 lines of ABAB/ CDCD/ EFEF ends with a rhyming couplet GG iambic pentameter SONNET

Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 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 A

‘translate’ it into plain English Start like this… Shall I compare you to a summer's day? You are more lovely and more constant Rough winds shake the pretty flower buds in May… ‘translate’ it into plain English

Sonnet in plain ENGLISH At times the sun is too hot, Or often goes behind the clouds; And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty By chance or by nature's planned out course. But your youthful beauty shall not fade, Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess; Nor will death claim you for his own, Because in my eternal verse you will live forever. So long as there are people on this earth, So long will this poem live on, making you immortal. Sonnet in plain ENGLISH

Language features Can you find examples of the following? Conceit Metaphor Parallel structure personification Balanced sentences Use of comparatives Language features

Is it the ultimate love poem? Critic James Boyd-White says: What kind of love does 'this' in fact give to 'thee'? We know nothing of the beloved’s form or height or hair or eyes or bearing, nothing of her character or mind, nothing of her at all, really. This 'love poem' is actually written not in praise of the beloved, as it seems, but in praise of itself. Death shall not brag, says the poet; the poet shall brag. This famous sonnet is on this view one long exercise in self-glorification. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is it the ultimate love poem?