Summary of the sonnet no.18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

Summary of the sonnet no.18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" by William Shakespeare:-

The poet compares his friend to a summer’s day. Frind is more pleasant and temperate and graceful. Stormy winds shake the lovely blossoms and these buds fall. The summer’s time is too short.

Sometime too hot heaven’s eye shines and heats the earth. Often it’s gold complexion dims. All the fairs decays by the “nature’s changing course”, untrimmed.

But the friend’s perpetual summer will not fade nor will lose the possession in fair. Death can not boast and hold upon his friend. With poet’s verse lines he will be growing aloofly.

To His Love

(Sonnet no. 18)

by William Shakespeare

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 wanderest 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.

Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day by William Shakespeare

"To His Love"

Summary and Analysis:-

The sonnet no. 18 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a happi addition to the time, love theme of Shakespeare’s sonnets. It marks his idealistic approach to love and adoration for his young friend. This sonnet is addressed to a young friend, possibly the Earl of Southampton and remains a specific specimen of the unique Shakespearean sonnets. Vibrant with the characteristic vigour as well as technical artistry of Shakespeare’s sonnet writing, the poem distinctly marks the singularity of his theme of masculine love and devotion and faith in his poetry power.

The theme of the poem is the celebration of the loveliness of the poet’s friend.  A number of images are drawn by the poet to idealize his beauty which according to the poet is even superior than nature’s beauty.

In the first stanza the poet compares his friend to the season of summer. But the addressee is more charming because of temperateness and calms.

In the second stanza the friend is again compared to the sun. But here also, he stands superior to the ‘eye of heaven’. The sun is sometimes too hot and at other times it is overcast with clouds. But the friend’s beauty is eternal and remains unaffected with nature’s diurnal course. The poet firmly believes that his verse lines will conquer time and will be immortal. In this was the addressee will also be immortalized.

To His Love

(Sonnet no. 18)

by William Shakespeare

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 wanderest 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.

Critical Appreciation of the sonnet no.18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

Critical Appreciation of the sonnet no.18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day":

This is one of best sonnets of Shakespeare. It is addressed to a young friend of the poet. Here the poet celebrates the beauty of his friend. The tradition of praising masculine beauty in verse was derived from Greek and Latin poetry and it became a fashion in English poetry after ‘The Renaissance’. The poet contrasts the ideal beauty of platonic conception embodied in his friend with the transient beauty of nature. The poet thinks that poetry is eternal and poetry will immortalize the beauty of his friend.

The sonnet shows a greatly enhanced sensibility and control. The rose metaphor is cleverly humanized in the phrase, “darling buds of May”. Summer’s lease adds concept of property so that it’s association with flowers seems inevitable. The eye of heaven introduces the correspondence between personality and the higher spheres with equal case. The eternal summer will be created by the poet’s eternal lines in his poems. Even death will not be able to make him its victim. The poet will celebrate the beauty of his friend in his writing. All future remain will read about him and thus the beauty of his friend will be eternal.

To His Love

(Sonnet no. 18)

by William Shakespeare

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 wanderest 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.