Sonnet 18- 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.
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.
Throughout this poem there is an evident tone of adoration expressed towards the woman to which Shakespeare is writing this. The first section establishes the flaws within a summer’s day which goes on to be compared to the elegance and timeless beauty of the woman. Although some could separate this into separate and slightly shifting tones, moving from being critical and then into adoration, all of the critique was stated in a graceful manner, all with the purpose of making evident his adoration for the woman. Through the comparison of summer’s declining fervor and the woman’s never ending beauty and poise, the perception of speaker is one of awe and tenderness. Even within the slander of summer, he still references its beauty by recognizing "the darling buds of May," the "gold complexion," and the heat from heaven, which are all good qualities yet he overshadows them by the qualities of this woman that outlast those of summer. He holds her with the highest regard and even in his slander he is referencing all the unending beauty and fairness that she holds. Overall, this poem has a steady tone of admiration and affection for the elegance and timeless beauty of this woman.
I would agree that the tone in this poem remains relatively constant throughout, and your determination that the tone is "admiring" is absolutely right. Can you get into those really specific adjectives? Let's look at this sonnet by quatrains and couplets (never forget the couplet!) Perhaps the first two quatrains are pleased, admiring, "twitter-pated" (don't use that in an AP essay :), enamored. Then, in the third quatrain, it seems to elevate slightly to one of exultation, reveration. The couplet takes on a tone of confident pride: the poet promises that his love's beauty will be forever preserved in the lines of his poem. He tells his love that HE, essentially, is responsible for the preservation of her "unending" beauty.
ReplyDeleteReally work to break it down, and dig in to those subtleties. Always remember to comment on the poem as a whole-- look at the meaning of the WHOLE thing, and then look for how literary devices like tone impact the ultimate meaning that's taken away.
Isn't this a beautiful sonnet? Love that you analyzed it!
8/10