Analysis of Sonnet 18: ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’

Posted on Sep 24, 2024 in Music

Sonnet 18

Analysis

1. Voice & Mood

Voice

The rhetorical question at the beginning serves to introduce the poem and pique the reader’s curiosity. This creates anticipation and encourages the reader to continue. The poem is written in the second person, indicating a speaker addressing a listener within the poem, not the reader directly.

Mood

The poem’s mood is one of admiration and praise for the beloved. The speaker compliments their beauty and compares it to a summer’s day. However, there’s a subtle duality: a sense of flattery mixed with an undercurrent of melancholy, particularly in the final lines. This duality suggests that while the speaker celebrates the beloved’s beauty, they also acknowledge the ephemeral nature of time and the inevitability of death.

2. Summary

The speaker compares their beloved to a summer’s day, ultimately finding the beloved superior in beauty and constancy. The poem explores the theme of immortality through art. While a summer’s day fades, the beloved’s beauty will live on forever through the poem itself. This immortality, however, is dependent on the continued existence of readers to appreciate the art.

3. Topic

The central conflict of the poem revolves around the contrast between the transient nature of the natural world and the enduring power of art. The speaker suggests that while natural beauty fades, art has the ability to transcend time and achieve a form of immortality. The beloved, captured in the poem, escapes the limitations of mortality and enters the realm of eternal art.

4. Parts

Part A

Lines 1-2: These lines establish the central comparison between the beloved and a summer’s day. The speaker immediately asserts the superiority of the beloved’s beauty.

Part B

Lines 3-8: This section explores the flaws and fleeting nature of a summer’s day. The speaker points out the rough winds, the short duration of summer, the intense heat, and the eventual decline of beauty as the season progresses.

Part C

Lines 9-14: Here, the focus shifts to the enduring beauty of the beloved. The speaker declares that their beauty will never fade, nor will they lose possession of their loveliness. Through the poem, the beloved transcends death and achieves a form of immortality that will last as long as there are readers to appreciate it.

Comments

The poem is written in iambic pentameter, a rhythmic pattern consisting of five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables per line. This meter gives the poem a natural, conversational flow.

The poem is structured as a Shakespearean sonnet, with three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a final couplet (two-line stanza). The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

  1. The opening line is a rhetorical question designed to engage the reader and introduce the central comparison between the beloved and a summer’s day. The use of”summer’s da” evokes a sense of warmth, beauty, and fleeting pleasure.
  2. The second line continues the comparison, highlighting the beloved’s superiority. The repetition of”mor” emphasizes their exceptional qualities.
  3. This line introduces a contrasting element: the”rough wind” that can mar the beauty of a summer’s day. This contrast underscores the perfection and resilience of the beloved’s beauty.
  4. The speaker points out the ephemeral nature of summer, with its”short lease” This emphasizes the theme of time’s passage and the inevitability of decay.
  5. The imagery of the”eye of heave” shining too hot continues the theme of summer’s fleeting nature. Even at its peak, summer is subject to change and decline.
  6. This line introduces the idea that even gold, a symbol of enduring value, can be”dimmed” This foreshadows the idea that all material things are subject to decay.
  7. The speaker reiterates the theme of decline, stating that even”fai” things eventually fade. This reinforces the idea that beauty in the natural world is transient.
  8. This line summarizes the previous six lines, emphasizing that change and decay are inevitable in nature.
  9. The word”Bu” marks a turning point in the poem. The speaker shifts from describing the fleeting nature of summer to praising the enduring beauty of the beloved.
  10. The speaker declares that the beloved’s beauty will never fade. The use of”eternal summe” suggests a timeless, unchanging beauty.
  11. The speaker continues to praise the beloved’s enduring beauty, stating that they will never lose possession of their loveliness.
  12. This line introduces the theme of death and immortality. The speaker suggests that even death cannot diminish the beloved’s beauty.
  13. The speaker declares that the beloved will live on forever through the poem itself. This is the central theme of the sonnet: art’s power to transcend time and grant immortality.
  14. The speaker addresses the beloved directly, stating that as long as people can read this poem, the beloved’s beauty will be remembered and celebrated.
  15. The final line reiterates the theme of immortality through art. The speaker suggests that the beloved’s beauty will live on as long as there are people to appreciate it.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 is a masterful exploration of love, beauty, time, and the enduring power of art. Through vivid imagery, evocative language, and a timeless message, the poem continues to resonate with readers centuries after it was written.