Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII, Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?

Shakespeare’s sonnets require time and effort to appreciate. Understanding the many meanings of the verses, the sharp references, the brilliance of the images, and the complexity of the sound, rhythm, and structure of the verse demands attention and experience. The rewards are plentiful as few writers have approached the richness of Shakespeare’s prose and poetry.

“Sonnet XVIII” is also known as “Should I compare you to a summer’s day?” It was written around 1599 and published with over 150 other sonnets in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe.

The first 126 sonnets are written for a young man, a boy, probably about 19 years old, and perhaps specifically, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. His initials, WH, appear in Thorpe’s dedication, and the first volume of Shakespeare’s plays, published by two of his fellow actors, Herminge and Condell, after Shakespeare’s death, was dedicated to William Herbert. .

“Sonnet XVIII” is one of the most famous of all Shakespeare’s sonnets. It is written in the sonnet style favored by Shakespeare, 14 lines long with three quatrains (four rhymed lines) and a couplet (one pair of rhymed lines).

The Sonnet praises the young man’s beauty and disposition, comparing and contrasting the young man with a summer’s day. Then the sonnet immortalizes youth through the “eternal lines” of the sonnet.

first quatrain

The first line announces the young man’s comparison to a summer’s day. But the second line says that youth is more perfect than a summer’s day. “Milder” can be interpreted as milder. A summer day can have excesses such as strong winds. In Shakespeare’s time, May was considered a summer month, a reference in the third line. The fourth line contains the metaphor that the summer leases the year, but the lease is of short duration.

second quatrain

This quatrain details how summer can be imperfect, traits that youth does not possess. The fifth line personifies the sun as “the eye of the sky”, which is sometimes too hot. On the other hand, “his golden complexion”, the face of the sun, can be dimmed by overcast skies and clouds. According to verse 7, all beautiful things (beautiful means beautiful) sometimes decay from their state of beauty or perfection by chance accidents or natural events. “Untrimmed” in line 8 means lack of decoration and perhaps refers to all the beauties in line 7.

third quartet

This quatrain explains that the young man will possess eternal beauty and perfection. On line 10, “ow’st” is short for ownest, which means to possess. In other words, youth “will lose none of your beauty.” Line 11 says that death will not defeat life and may refer to the nuances of classical literature (Virgil’s). Aeneid) who wanders defenseless in the underworld. In line 12, “eternal lines” refers to the eternal lines of the sonnet. Shakespeare realized that the sonnet can reach an eternal state and that one can be immortalized within it.

the final verse

The verse is easy to interpret. As long as humans live and breathe on earth with eyes that can see, this is how long these verses will live. And these verses celebrate youth and continually renew the life of youth.

“Shall I Compare Thee” is one of Shakespeare’s most quoted sonnets. It’s complex, yet elegant and memorable, and can be quoted by men and women alike. It has been enjoyed by every generation since Shakespeare and will continue to be enjoyed “as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.”

Sonnet XVIII, Will I compare you?

by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare you to a summer day?

You are kinder and more temperate:

Rough winds shake the dear buds of May,

And Summer’s lease is dated too short:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often his golden complexion darkens;

And every fair fair sometime declines,

By chance or by the changing course of nature untrimmed:

But your eternal summer won’t fade

Nor lose possession of that beautiful you ow’st;

Not even death will boast that you wander in its shadow,

when in eternal lines to time you grow:

As long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So live this, and this gives you life.