Shakespeare Sonnet

Department of English
University of Scholars
Shama E Shahid
Lecturer & Coordinator
Department of English
1
English 213
Lecture 1
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
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
An introduction to
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
• Some of these sonnets were written as early as

1580s, but most were written in the 1590s
• Published in 1609 (with the exception of

Passionate Pilgrim sonnets previously published in
1599)
• Most use the ELIZABETHAN FORM:

3 quatrains and a final couplet
rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Themes
• Many of these poems deal with the

THEME OF LOVE and TIME:
LOVE outlasts TIME
POETRY outlasts both LOVE AND TIME
• Other themes: beauty, death,

friendship, power of the beloved and
suffering of the lover.
Two groups of sonnets
• 154 Sonnets divided into 2 groups:
a) 126 sonnets addressed to a YOUNG,

good-looking MAN (Fair Youth)
b) 28 sonnets addressed to a
mysterious DARK LADY
Sonnets to the young man
• They form one of the most

impressive explorations of the
themes of LOVE.
• Shakespeare explores from all

angles the sentiments the young
man inspires him.
Sonnets to the young man
• In his sonnets Shakespeare wishes

to preserve the ETERNAL PART of
the young’s man beauty against the
effects of time.
• There is a repeated idea of the

poetry’s capacity to IMMORTALISE.
Sonnet 18
• Sonnet 18 uses a typical convention of Renaissance

poems about the transience of youth and beauty.
COMPARISON with aspect of nature. Nature

imaginery dominates the poem .
To a summer’s day
Sonnet 18
BUT, like a real summer, the young

man’s youth won’t last long.
Turning point of the sonnet:

In the world of the poem, his beauty
will never fade.
ART will preserve the IDEA OF

YOUTH.
1st quatrain
Shall I compare thee to a Should I compare you to a
summer’s day? summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and The youth’s beauty is more

more temperate: gentle and restrained than
the beauty of a summer
day.
Rough winds do shake the
darling buds of may Strong winds shake the
beautiful bud of the early
summer
And summer’s lease hath

all too short a date Summer has a deadline
which is too short
(LEASE: legal
terminology)
2nd quatrain
Sometime too hot the eye Sometimes the sun shines
of heaven shines too hot
And often is his gold And his golden face is

complexion dimmed often obscured
And every fair from fair All beautiful things

sometime decline occasionally become
inferior in comparison
with their essential
previous state of beauty
By chance, or nature’s By chance or by the

changing course changing course of the
untrimmed nature without ornaments
3 quatrain
rd
But thy eternal summer But your eternal summer

shall not fade shall not die
Nor lose possession of that Nor shall it lose its hold on

fair thou ow’st that beauty which you so
richly possess
Nor shall death brag thou And you will never die
wander’st in his shade
When in eternal lines to As you will live on my

time thou grow’st enduring poetry
Final couplet
So long as men can As long as people live and

breathe, or eyes can see breathe, as long as eyes
can see it
So long lives this, and this That is how long these

gives life to thee. verses will live,
celebrating you , and
continually renewing you
life.
Figures of speech
• SIMILE compares two different elements or ideas and
allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities.
Ex: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
• HYPERBOLE: the use of exaggeration as a rethorical

device.
Ex: “Shall I compare the to a summer’s day?”
• ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel sounds.
Ex: “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Figures of speech
• METAPHOR: the use of a word or phrase to refer to
something that isn’t, creating a direct similarity
between the word or phrase used and the thing
described.
Ex: “The eye of heaven” is used to referring to the

SUN.
• ALLITERATION: using several words that begin with

the same letter.
Ex: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date."
Figures of speech
• PERSONIFICATION: the attribution of human

qualities to objects
“his gold complexion dimmed” where HIS is used

to referring to the SUN
• REPETITION: the use of words repeatedly to

reinforce an image, idea or to convey a message
Ex: Note the repetition of certain words through

the sonnet: summer, fair, so long, thou.
Meter
• The meter is IAMBIC PENTAMETER which means 5
iambic feet : ten syllable lines in which even-
numbered syllables are naturally accented
• A IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of an

unaccented syllable followed by an accented
syllable.
ex: Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mer’s
DAY?
• This beat is used as it replicates the rhythm of that

human heart and is a popular metre for love poetry.
Final observations
In William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, one gets
the feeling he is describing a love that goes
beyond the temporal realm of time and
seasons.
• LINES ONE AND TWO start with a question

which the rest of the sonnet answers.
• LINES THREE THROUGH EIGHT point out a

number of negative characteristics of summer.
• LINES NINE THROUGH FOURTEEN offer a

view of the lover's many contrasts with nature.

Shakespeare Sonnet

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Shakespeare Sonnet

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Shakespeare Sonnet

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Department of English

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c

But thy eternal summer shall not fade e

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g

• Some of these sonnets were written as early as

• Published in 1609 (with the exception of

• Most use the ELIZABETHAN FORM:

• Many of these poems deal with the

• Other themes: beauty, death,

• 154 Sonnets divided into 2 groups:

a) 126 sonnets addressed to a YOUNG,

• They form one of the most

• Shakespeare explores from all

• In his sonnets Shakespeare wishes

• There is a repeated idea of the

• Sonnet 18 uses a typical convention of Renaissance

COMPARISON with aspect of nature. Nature

BUT, like a real summer, the young

Turning point of the sonnet:

ART will preserve the IDEA OF

Thou art more lovely and The youth’s beauty is more

And summer’s lease hath

And often is his gold And his golden face is

And every fair from fair All beautiful things

By chance, or nature’s By chance or by the

But thy eternal summer But your eternal summer

Nor lose possession of that Nor shall it lose its hold on

When in eternal lines to As you will live on my

So long as men can As long as people live and

So long lives this, and this That is how long these

Ex: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

• HYPERBOLE: the use of exaggeration as a rethorical

Ex: “Shall I compare the to a summer’s day?”

• ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel sounds.

Ex: “The eye of heaven” is used to referring to the

• ALLITERATION: using several words that begin with

Ex: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

• PERSONIFICATION: the attribution of human

“his gold complexion dimmed” where HIS is used

• REPETITION: the use of words repeatedly to

Ex: Note the repetition of certain words through

• A IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of an

• This beat is used as it replicates the rhythm of that

• LINES ONE AND TWO start with a question

• LINES THREE THROUGH EIGHT point out a

• LINES NINE THROUGH FOURTEEN offer a

You might also like