Sonnet 18 analysis

William Shakespeare was one of the most prominent playwrights and poets of the
sixteenth century. He wrote many famous plays and sonnets. “Shall I compare
thee to a summer’s day?” is one of his most beautiful pieces of poetry. This
sonnet is also referred to as “Sonnet 18.” It was written in the 1590s and was
published in his collection of sonnets in 1609. In this collection, there are a total
of 154 sonnets. These themes of these sonnets are usually love, beauty, time, and
jealousy to mortality and infidelity.

This collection of sonnets is believed to be addressed to two different persons. On

this basis, these sonnets are divided into two portions. The first portion consists
of the first 126 sonnets. These sonnets are addressed to a male beloved. Some of
these sonnets directly persuade the guy to marry while the rest addresses general
themes like mortality, the value of poetry, and the attainment of immortality. The
next portion consists of twenty-eight sonnets. These sonnets are addressed to
some mysterious lady. The lady is usually referred to as the “dark lady.” These
sonnets address the themes of greed, appetite, and sexual desires.

This sonnet belongs to the first part of the sonnet collection and is, therefore,
considered to be addressed to the beloved male. This context specifies that the
speaker is praising the beauty of a guy and comparing his beauty to the pleasant
aspects of summer. The speaker tells him that there are a few downsides to the
beauty of summer, but his beauty is flawless. Moreover, every beautiful thing is
doomed to fade except the speaker’s beloved. The reason is that he is going to
immortalize his beauty by describing it in his poetry.

As the number of this sonnet is eighteenth, it is clear that it discusses the themes
of mortality, the value of poetry, and the attainment of immortality. The speaker
reflects on how every worldly entity is mortal. However, he is going to use his
poetry against this enemy and win immortality for his beloved by canonizing him
in his poetry.
SONNET 18 SUMMARY
FIRST QUATRAIN
The poem opens with a question asked by the speaker. The speaker asks the
beloved whether he should compare him to a summer day. The next line
announces the comparison and says that the beloved is lovelier than a summer
day. Moreover, the summer day is extreme, while the beloved is better because
he is temperate. The speaker furthers this comparison and says that the darling
buds sprouting in May are shaken by the forceful winds that blow in the summer.
Furthermore, the lease of summer is also not very long. It is very short-lived.

SECOND QUATRAIN
The next quatrain opens with the description of yet another flaw in summer’s
beauty. During summers, the sun shines very brightly, and it is very hot. The
pleasant weather does not stay. Similarly, the sunshine is sometimes very faint,
and the weather gets cold.

Having described the numerous flaws in the summer’s beauty, the speaker
reflects on the nature of beauty in general. He says that every beautiful thing is
destined to see a decline in its charm one day. The reason for this decline may
vary, but the decline is guaranteed. Sometimes, it is the bearing of luck and
chance, which results in the fading of prettiness. Other times, it is the working of
time and nature, which brings old age. This way, no beautiful thing escapes the
clutches of future decline.

THIRD QUATRAIN
The first line of the third quatrain directly addresses the beloved and tells him
that his beauty is eternal. It will never fade. The speaker tells him that you should
not be afraid of losing the charm that you have now. Time will never be able to
take it from you. Similarly, death will also fail in dispossessing him of his beauty.
The shadows of death will never be able to take him under their control. The
speaker says that you will keep on growing in the eternal lines he is saying. These
lines do not come under the influence of time and will be able to remain in world
till the end of time.

COUPLET

The last two lines of the sonnet describe the reason behind the immortality of the
beloved’s beauty. The speaker says that as long as the human race remains here
in this world, his lines will be read. With the reading of these lines, the beauty of
the beloved described in these lines will remain in this world. This way, the
speaker claims that he has given immortality to the beauty of the beloved.

THEMES IN SONNET 18
ADMIRATION
Throughout the whole poem, the speaker talks about the beauty of his beloved.
He admires the beauty of his beloved in different ways throughout the three
quatrains. He starts by asking his beloved whether he should compare him with a
summer day or not.

The comparison starts from the very next line, where the speaker mentions the
limitation of summer in comparison to his beloved. He says that a summer day is
either too cold or too hot, depending on the sunshine. On the other hand, his
beloved is temperate and does not go to extremes. The speaker also claims that
his beloved is lovelier than a summer day.

The speaker furthers his admiration by juxtaposing his beloved’s beauty with the
beauty of other mortal things. He says that summer is too short and fades away
into autumn. Similarly, all the other things in the world are going to lose their
charm. They are either going to face some accident or fall into the arms of the
inevitable death.

This admiration of the beloved’s beauty is enhanced in the poem by the use of
superior metaphors. The speaker uses metaphor like “eye of heaven” in
comparison with his beloved beauty to show that his beloved’s beauty is not an
ordinary thing.

CRUELTY OF NATURE
Nature is depicted as a harsh and cruel antagonist in this poem. The speaker says
that the harsh winds shake the darling buds during May. This depicts that
elements of nature are always bent upon damaging the beautiful objects in the
world. Moreover, the two extremes of sunshine during summer deprive the
humans of the pleasant weather. It is the working of the cruel nature that does
not let humans have fun in this world.

Similarly, the speaker mentions how every fair thing is destined to lose its fairness
in its interaction with natural cycles. Nature is filled with such dangers that can
snatch the beauty of anything at any time.

Furthermore, death is depicted as a boastful antagonist in the poem. It is one of

the agents of cruel nature that puts an end to the beauty of many things. It does
not let humans enjoy their life and snatches it from them.

INEVITABILITY OF DEATH
The poem highlights the idea that no one can escape death. Everyone, no matter
how powerful they are, is going to fall into this pit called grave. This idea is first
developed in the poem by the description of the short-lived summer. The speaker
says that summer has a very short span of time and will soon end.

This idea is then developed, and the speaker maintains that death serves as the
full stop for every entity in the world. Every beautiful thing ceases to exist and
turns into dust once the time of death arrives. The speaker, however, promises
his beloved to protect him from such a future by immortalizing him in his poetry.

POETRY AS A SOURCE OF IMMORTALITY

In the last couplet of the poem, the speaker tells his beloved about his source of
achieving immortality. He tells him that he has immortalized him by writing about
his beauty in his poetry. He is sure that people will read his poetry even when
they are long gone from this world. When they read his poetry, they will
appreciate his beloved’s beauty. In this way, his beloved will remain immortal.

SONNET 18 LITERARY ANALYSIS

FORM
The poem is written in the form of a sonnet. It has fourteen lines, which are
divided into three quatrains and a couplet. The first eight lines—the octave—
discuss the same thought i.e., the comparison of the speaker’s beloved with
summer. The last six lines—the sestet—bring in a new thought. These lines
describe how the speaker’s beloved is unlike the summer.

RHYME SCHEME
The rhyme scheme of the sonnet is ababcdcdefefgg.
DICTION
The words used in the sonnet are straightforward and ordinary.

TONE
The tone of the sonnet is romantic and full of flattery. The speaker speaks of his
beloved beauty as there is no match for it.

SPEAKER
The speaker of the sonnet is a person who has a lot of experience in love. He/she
is very vocal about how everything is lesser in stature than his/her beloved
beauty. He/she also talks about using his/her poetry to immortalize his/her
beloved. This shows that he/she is a poet.

LITERARY DEVICES

PERSONIFICATION
In line number nine, death is attributed with the human quality of boasting. The
personified image of death creates the image of a boastful enemy, which is trying
to bring everything under its shadows. In this way, it is portrayed as a true
antagonist.

METAPHORS
In the fifth line of the poem, the sun is described as “the eye of heaven.”
Here, the sun is compared with an eye, which creates the effect of vividness. It
provides the reader with a mental image of the whole scenario.
In the sixth line of the poem, the metaphor “his gold complexion” is used to
refer to sunshine. This metaphor creates the image of a beautiful person with
golden complexion being compared with the golden rays of the sun in the minds
of the readers.
The metaphor “thy eternal summer” is used to refer to the beloved’s beauty.
This metaphor serves the purpose of maintaining the image of the comparison of
the summer season and the speaker’s beloved, which started in the first line.

What is the moral lesson of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18?

Sonnet 18 suggests that beauty is temporary, but poetry has the power to make it
last forever.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Of Beauty

VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely virtue is best, in a body that is comely, though not of
delicate features; and that hath rather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost seen, that
very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue; as if nature were rather busy, not to err, than in labor to
produce excellency. And therefore they prove accomplished, but not of great spirit; and study rather behavior,
than virtue. But this holds not always: for Augustus Caesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Belle of France,
Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great
spirits; and yet the most beautiful men of their times. In beauty, that of favor, is more than that of color; and
that of decent and gracious motion, more than that of favor. That is the best part of beauty, which a picture
cannot express; no, nor the first sight of the life. There is no excellent beauty, that hath not some strangeness in
the proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles, or Albert Durer, were the more trifler; whereof the one,
would make a personage by geometrical proportions; the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces, to
make one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please nobody, but the painter that made them. Not but I
think a painter may make a better face than ever was; but he must do it by a kind of felicity (as a musician that
maketh an excellent air in music), and not by rule. A man shall see faces, that if you examine them part by
part, you shall find never a good; and yet altogether do well. If it be true that the principal part of beauty is in
decent motion, certainly it is no marvel, though persons in years seem many times more amiable; pulchrorum
autumnus pulcher; for no youth can be comely but by pardon, and considering the youth, as to make up the
comeliness. Beauty is as summer fruits,) which are easy to corrupt, and cannot last; and for the most part it
makes a dissolute youth, and an age a little out of countenance; but yet certainly again, if it light well, it
maketh virtue shine, and vices blush.
Francis Bacon was a reputed essayist, thinker, and philosopher. His essays reveal
keen intellect and vastness of worldly wisdom. There is much suggest that he
nurtured a strong fascination for public life and material advancement. However,
he adopts an impersonal and pragmatic approach when he discusses the subject
in his essays. He conveys his views with the typical detachment of a scientific
observer making his essays formal and cold.
“Of Beauty” is one of those essays where Bacon gives a new insight to look into
the quality of beauty and its advantages in life. The writer says that virtues are
like a precious stone which looks best when set in a plain background. It becomes
much glorious when it is found in a simple and dignified person but Bacon thinks
that a very beautiful person is generally not very virtuous. It seems that nature
was interested in making their appearance perfect and did not bother about
making their inner spirit. However, there is some historical person who possesses
both beauty and virtue in equal measure. These person such as “Augustus
Caeser”, “Edward The Fourth” are exceptions because they got an abundance of
grace, benevolence, and beauty. Bacon paints out that beauty of features is more
attractive than the beauty of color but graceful movement has an age over both
features and colors. True beauty has some strangeness in the proportions.

About paintings and portraits and which are works of art, the writer holds the
view that they are the result of inspirations rather than the imitation of certain
rules. Some painters paint a beautiful person by taking the best part out of
different beautiful faces but these can please none but the painters. Beauty
comes from the whole, if seen imparts or analyze every organ one by one, even
the most beautiful faces will lose its charm and attraction. In this regards science
has done great harm. Thus, a beautiful flower is anatomized and separated into
sepals petals and poly grains. Thus, the flower is completely defaced and beauty is
lost in this study.
Bacon believes that in regards to beauty, features such as virtue and integrity are
more important than outward appearances.