Sonnet 18

William Shakespeare
Learn about William Shakespeare
Step 1
1. Love is a popular subject in poetry because it's a fairly universal emotion.
• Lots of people fall in love and lots of people know how it feels.
• In addition, when a person first falls in love, he or she has a lot of powerful feelings.
• People like to express those feelings, and poetry is a good way to do that.
2 I think that writing a poem can be a good way to tell a person that you love him or her.
• For one thing, it's an old tradition. If it worked in the past, it will probably work again.
• For another thing, poetry is a very good way to express emotions.
• Sometimes, it's hard to put into words how you feel, but poetry can make that easier.
Step 2
• The poem is most likely about love.
• But it might also be a sad poem, since the words "death," "fade," and "decline"
are in the word chart.
• The word "lines" is also in the word chart, which probably means that the
poem itself refers to poetry.
in 1609
a sonnet
love
This is not
identified and not important.
• Listen to and read Sonnet 18. First,
read for general understanding.
• Then, reread the poem.
• As you read the second time, ask
yourself:
• What imagery does Shakespeare use in
the sonnet, and why?
• When Shakespeare compares his beloved to a summer's day, he uses
images of the summer that show it to be less than desirable, thus
showing his beloved to be all the more beautiful.
• Winds shaking the "darling buds of May" gives us a strong image
• And so does the image of the sun, sometimes too hot and sometimes
covered in clouds, "his gold complexion dimmed."
1. The poem is about love.
• I also thought that the poem might be sad.
• lt turns out that it really isn't sad, but the poem was about a poem.
• The speaker says that his beloved won't fade or die because the poem grants the
beloved immortality.
2. The author communicated the main ideas in the poem with images.
• There was no dialogue and he did not state any ideas directly.
• Instead, he used images to create a feeling and share his ideas.
3 I think the speaker in the poem is in love.
• The speaker feels proud that his poem will preserve his beloved's beauty for
eternity.
• Two examples of personification used in the poem are the sun and
"his" gold complexion, and Death in "his" shade.
• An example of a pun appears in the second line, where "temperate“
can refer to a person's calm disposition and a climate's mild weather .
The speaker Love

The beloved The fading of beauty

Sonnet 18 is about a beautiful beloved person and the poem that the
speaker writes for that person. The speaker first compares the beloved to a
summer's day, but realizes that this is not a perfect comparison. Summer is
sometimes too hot, or the winds are too rough. And, the speaker says, summer
eventually fades. The beloved's beauty will never fade, however, because the
speaker has included the beloved in this poem. He says that as long as people can
read, the beloved will never die.
Strong winds blow away May’s flower buds
And summer does not last long enough.
Sometimes the sun shines too hot,
And other times it’s covered in clouds.
Beautiful things eventually lose their beauty
Either by chance or the passing of time.
But your eternal beauty will not fade away,
Nor will you lose your current beauty.
Nor will you will ever die,
As long as you continue to grow in this poem.
As long as people can breathe and read,
This poem will exist, and you will live forever.
I would name the poem “Immortal Beloved” because the poem is about how the
speaker’s beloved will live forever in the lines of the poem.
a writer lovely
loves someone young
high self-esteem temperate
• The speaker is the voice that we "hear" in the poem. He is the main
character. We know that he is a writer and that he loves someone. He also
seems to have a high opinion of his ability as a writer.
• The beloved is young and lovely. The speaker says that the beloved is
also temperate.
• We know more about the speaker than we know about the beloved. The
speaker really does not tell the readers much about the beloved. He
spends more time talking about summer days and his poetry.
• lt is strange that the speaker does not spend more time describing his beloved. I think he
does this because the focus isn't on what the beloved looks like. Instead, it's on the fact
the beloved will live forever in the speaker's poetry and not on a list of her physical traits.
• At first it seems that the sonnet will be all about the beloved, but in the end the speaker is
trying to compare the temporary beauty of nature with the immortal beauty of the poem-
and the talent of the speaker, who achieves this through his poetry. Therefore, the speaker
comes out as the stronger character.
• If I were the beloved, I would feel flattered that the poet wants to immortalize me. At the
same time, I would feel a little strange, since the poem makes it clear that my physical
beauty will soon fade.
C
A
B
• I believe that summer is symbolic of youth because the poet says that
the beloved's "eternal summer" will not fade. I believe that means
the beloved will never get old. Summer is a happy-go-lucky time, just
like youth. I think that the "darling buds of May" are representative of
beauty. Flowers are often used as symbols of beauty, and buds are
young flowers. In addition, the speaker talks about rough winds
blowing the buds. I think this is a reference to the passage of time
causing people to lose their beauty. Finally, I believe that
unpredictable weather represents chance or fate. Just as people can't
control the weather, we also cannot control what happens in our
lives.
• Our group thinks that the symbol of summer is the most important one
in the poem.
• The poet uses summer to represent youth.
• He says that the beloved's "eternal summer" will not fade because of
his verses.
• We think that this is the most important idea in the poem: that the
beloved will live forever as a young person because of the speaker's
immortal poem.
Shall l 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 ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Shall l 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 ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Yes.
There are ten syllables in each line.
Yes.
• Meter gives a poem rhythm and allows it to flow.
• Poems are meant to be read aloud, and the meter gives the reader
and the listener a kind of beat to follow.
• This gives poetry an element of music.
• Iambic pentameter is very well-suited to English, with its short words
and natural pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
• lt creates a poem that sounds rhythmic but natural.
• This is probably why Shakespeare chose it for most of his sonnets.
"Thou art more lovely and more temperate"; "that fair thou ow'st"

"Thy eternal summer shall not fade"; "Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade"

"So long as men can breathe .. ./ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee"
• I think that the idea of immortality is the most important theme in the poem.
• The speaker tries to compare his beloved to a summer day, but he realizes that
this is an imperfect comparison.
• For one thing, summer doesn't last forever, but the speaker believes that his
beloved will.
• Of course, the speaker does not really believe that the beloved will live forever.
• But he thinks that the beloved's memory will never fade as long as people read
his poems- which is actually true.
In Depth Analysis: Sonnets
• Based on the In-Depth Analysis, I expect the rhyme scheme of Sonnet
18 to be ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
• 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,
• 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 ow'st;
• Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
• When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
• So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
• 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 ow'st; F
• Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, E
• When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: F
• So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G
• The sonnet fits with the typical rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean
sonnet perfectly.
• lt is easy to identify the quatrains and the couplet.
• Before line 9, the speaker is talking about the downfalls of comparing the beloved to a summer day.
The speaker begins by suggesting a comparison between the beloved and a summer day. Then, the
speaker lists many reasons why a summer day really isn't always so great, with hot temperatures,
high winds, and (most importantly) the fact that the summer does not last forever.
• In line 9, the speaker says that the "eternal summer" of the beloved will not fade.
• After line 9, the poet talks about the fact that his beloved will live forever in the lines of his poetry.
• The shift comes in line 9. The first half tells what's wrong with summer days. The second half explains
why the beloved won't meet the same fate as summer and other beautiful things in the world. In a
way, the first half is like a problem: everything must die, beautiful things don't last forever, etc. The
second half is a solution: my poem will ensure that this beautiful thing does not fade away.
• The couplet says that as long as people are alive on the Earth and can read, the
speaker’s poetry will survive, and so will the memory of the beloved.
• The couplet basically expresses the most important idea in the poem. The
speaker does not have to worry about his beloved ever growing old or ugly,
because the lines of poetry will preserve the beloved forever. The couplet sums
up the "solution" to the "problem" that everything must grow old.
Video
Concepts to think about
• Though the person the poem is addressed to is dead, the poem will continue to
sing their beauty forever (or as long as people live).
• The beloved's "summer" (beauty) does not have an end: it will not fade, and she
will never die.
• Only personal reference to beloved is in the first couplet: "Thou art more lovely
and more temperate [than a summer's day]."
• The reason for the beloved's immortal beauty is the poem; the person the poem
is addressed to will be immortalized because they will live forever in the poem.
• The first half of the poem concentrates on why a summer's day is an unsuitable
simile/metaphor to use in the sonnet. Reasons: summer can have extreme
weather, but most importantly comes to an end: "And summer's lease hath all
too short a date."
Example Outline
Introduction
• Introduce the poem. Explain why immortality is one of the most important themes of the poem.
Paragraph 2
• Address the first half (first eight lines) of the poem. Refer to the lack of personal reference in the first half.
Explain that the writer seems more interested in rejecting a summer's day as a comparison to his beloved's
beauty.
Paragraph 3
• Address lines 9-12. Show how it is here we realize that he is talking about his beloved's "eternal summer"
(immortal beauty). The reader is given the first hint of how; the beloved will live in the "eternal lines" of the
poem.
Paragraph 4
• Address the final couplet. These two lines make it clear that it is the poem, and not the beloved, that will live
forever (or "as long as men can breathe and eyes can see"). The beloved and her beauty will fade and die in
real life, but live on- on the page.
Conclusion
• Repeat that addressing immortality was one of Shakespeare's main goals in writing the poem. Make a
Example Essay
Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is a love poem, but it is not a typical love poem.
This poem spends less time talking about the specific qualities of the beloved and
more time addressing the theme of immortality. Indeed, the poem explains
perfectly how the speaker's beloved can live forever in the lines of his poem.
The speaker begins by talking about how nothing can last forever. He wants
to compare his beloved to a summer day, but soon realizes that this is an
inadequate comparison. He notes, "summer's lease hath all too short a date,“
meaning that summer is over too soon. Summer does not last forever, and
therefore it is unacceptable to compare the beloved to it.
This is because the speaker believes that the beloved's "eternal summer
shall not fade." That is, the speaker feels that the beloved will live forever. Since
summer, and indeed all of nature, eventually fades away, the speaker does not
think that the beloved should be in the same category as these things. But this
begs the question: how is it possible for the beloved to live forever when we know
that nothing lasts forever?
Example Essay
The speaker answers in the couplet at the end of the poem. He writes, "So
long as men can breathe and eyes can see,/So long lives this and this gives life to
thee." The word "this" refers, of course, to the poem. The speaker says that his
beloved will live forever in the lines of his poem. The beloved will not literally be
alive, but the memory of the beloved's beauty will last as long as the poem does.
Shakespeare elevates Sonnet 18 to more than just a poem - it is a way to
preserve a beautiful and beloved person forever. In this, he was successful- the
memory of the beloved lives on to this day.