Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

Shall I Compare Thee To a Summer’s Day?

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 oft’ 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.

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“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a classic poem by the legendary William Shakespeare. This poem is his eighteenth sonnet, and perhaps the most well-known out of all Shakespeare’s fifty four sonnets. With the renowned writing style and techniques, Shakespeare has made the meaning of this love poem so intriguing. The chosen subject matter, describing the theme of love has created a remarkable longevity for this poem until these days. The content mentioned above, along with the context, tone and an array of literary devices will be analyzed thoroughly in this essay.

The title “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” partially conveys the theme of the appreciation of beauty, and the sense of falling in love. Hypothetically, the personal context of this poem is Shakespeare falling in love with a remarkably attractive woman. Through the comparison of this woman’s good looks with the nature of “a summer’s day”, the subject matter appears to be Shakespeare being truly infatuated by the loveliness of this lady. The theme suggested is the eternal love and beauty. Due to the historical context being in the 17th century, the language of this poem is old English, which is formal and complex. The tone of this sonnet is very elegant and suavely romantic, which creates a heart-warming mood for the readers. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a lyrical poem, comprising complete features of sonnet form. It has fourteen lines in total, divided into three quatrains then followed by a couplet. Almost every line in this sonnet directly conveys the subject matter with many clear and vivid images. The rhyme scheme is structured in order: abab cdcd efef gg.

Throughout this poem, the use of imagery can be seen many times, through the vivid image of the woman’s beauty compared to the glow summer. The poem starts with a rhetorical question “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” which implies adoration to his beloved. Then the next line is the admiration for this woman’s magnificence with two adjectives “lovely” and “moderate”. The selection of these two words makes this woman’s good look seems very pleasant but also magnificent. There’s a repetition of the word “more” before the two adjectives, which increases the effect of praising the loveliness of this lady. The next two lines “Rough winds do shake the darling bush of May”, “And summer lease hath all too short a date” expresses the negative aspect of summer. Shakespeare’s use of imagery for “rough winds” implies that the tempestuous weather is ruining the joy of summer and fades the splendor away. Then it’s followed by the complaint of summer passes too quickly, which metaphorically suggests that all beauty is only temporary, all pleasant thing must come to an end at some point.

The second quatrain addresses about the nature of summer and beauty in general. The fifth and sixth lines have brilliant personifications of the sun as “the eyes of heaven” and “his golden complexion”. They implicitly describe the characteristics on a face, with the use of imagery and metaphor. The next two lines refer to an unavoidable truth that all beautiful things will eventually grow fainter as time goes by, and because of the strenuous encounters in life. “And every fair from fair sometime declines” “By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:” Shakespeare uses the alliteration, as well as repetition “fair from fair” to emphasize the attractiveness fading away. He has combined proficiently two literary devices in just three words. The ninth line deliberately shows a complete contrast idea: “But thy eternal Summer shall not fade” describes the beauty that will stay for eternity, and will always remain the quality and prolonged existence. The repetition of “nor” has the effect of emphasizing that nothing can decline the gorgeousness of this lady that Shakespeare adored.

The couplet, which is the last two lines of the poem also contain a repetition “So long as”. The aim is to reveal the everlasting beauty of Shakespeare’s beloved. He also used hyperbole “men can breathe….eyes can see” to exaggerate the significance of her exquisiteness to him. The hyperbole also refers to the longevity of this poem: as long as there are people still alive to read poems this sonnet will live, and you will live in it.

Through the sophisticated language and description of his beloved, Shakespeare has shown his joy of being deeply in love with a beautiful woman. It is very skillful of this renowned writer to use the image of the bright summer to compare with the eternal beauty of this woman. The imagery has expressed entirely the subject matter and theme of this romantic sonnet. Not only does Shakespeare believe that immortality exist through the beauty, it also stays in his poem. Truly, this love sonnet has elapsed through so many generations, and his premise for the endless beauty has come true.