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2. Sonnet 18, often alternately titled Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?, is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Part of the Fair Youth sequence (which comprises sonnets 1-126 in the accepted numbering stemming from the first edition in 1609), it is the first of the cycle after the opening sequence now described as the Procreation sonnets. Most scholars now agree that the original subject of the poem, the beloved to whom the poet is writing, is a male, though the poem is commonly used to describe a woman. In the sonnet, the poet compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. The poet also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem. Scholars have found parallels within the poem to Ovid's Tristia and Amores, both of which have love themes. Sonnet 18 is written in the typical Shakespearean sonnet form, having 14 lines of iambic pentameter ending in a rhymed couplet. Detailed exegeses have revealed several double meanings within the poem, giving it a greater depth of interpretation. A facsimile of the original printing of Sonnet The poem starts with a line of adoration to the beloved—"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The beloved is both "more lovely and more temperate" than a summer's day. The speaker lists some negative things about summer: it is short—"summer's lease hath all too short a date"—and sometimes the sun is too hot—"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines." However, the beloved has beauty that will last forever, unlike the fleeting beauty of a summer's day. By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever. "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." The lover's beauty will live on, through the poem which will last as long as it can be read. Context The poem is part of the Fair Youth sequence (which comprises sonnets 1-126 in the accepted numbering stemming from the first edition in 1609). It is also the first of the cycle after the opening sequence now described as the Procreation sonnets, although some scholars see it as a part of the Procreation sonnets, as it still addresses the idea of reaching eternal life through the written word, a theme of sonnets 15-17. In this view, it can be seen as part of a transition to sonnet 20's time theme.[1] There are many theories about the identity of the 1609 Quarto's enigmatic dedicatee, Mr. W.H.. Some scholars suggest that this poem may be expressing a hope that the Procreation sonnets despaired of: the hope of metaphorical procreation in a homosexual relationship.[2] Other scholars have pointed out that the order in which the sonnets are placed may have been the decision of publishers and not of Shakespeare. This introduces the possibility that Sonnet 18 was originally intended for a woman.[3] Sonnet XVIII (18) Addressed to the Young Man Quatrain 1 (four-line stanza) A Shall I compare thee to a summer's DAY? If I compared you to a summer day B Thou art more lovely and more temperATE: I'd have to say you are more beautiful and serene: A Rough winds do shake the darling buds of MAY, By comparison, summer is rough on budding life, B And summer's lease hath all too short a DATE: And doesn't last long either: Comment: In Shakespeare's time, May (Line 3) was considered a summer month. Quatrain 2 (four-line stanza) C Sometime too hot the eye of heaven SHINES, At times the summer sun [heaven's eye] is too hot, D And often is his gold complexion DIMM'D; And at other times clouds dim its brilliance; C And every fair from fair sometime deCLINES, Everything fair in nature becomes less fair from time to time, D By chance or nature's changing course unTRIMM'D; No one can change [trim] nature or chance; Comment:."Every fair" may also refer to every fair woman, who "declines" because of aging or bodily changes. Quatrain 3 (four-line stanza) E But thy eternal summer shall not FADE However, you yourself will not fade F Nor lose possession of that fair thou OWEST; Nor lose ownership of your fairness; E Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his SHADE, Not even death will claim you, F When in eternal lines to time thou GROWEST: Because these lines I write will immortalize you: Couplet (two rhyming lines) G So long as men can breathe or eyes can SEE, Your beauty will last as long as men breathe and see, G So long lives this and this gives life to THEE. As Long as this sonnet lives and gives you life. SONNET 18 PARAPHRASE Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Shall I compare you to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: You are more lovely and more constant: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May And summer's lease hath all too short a date: And summer is far too short: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, At times the sun is too hot, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; Or often goes behind the clouds; And every fair from fair sometime declines, And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; By misfortune or by nature's planned out course. But thy eternal summer shall not fade But your youth shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, Nor will death claim you for his own, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: Because in my eternal verse you will live forever. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long as there are people on this earth, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. So long will this poem live on, making you immortal. ANALYSIS temperate (1): i.e., evenly-tempered; not overcome by passion. the eye of heaven (5): i.e., the sun. every fair from fair sometime declines (7): i.e., the beauty (fair) of everything beautiful (fair) will fade (declines). Compare to Sonnet 116: "rosy lips and cheeks/Within his bending sickle's compass come." nature's changing course (8): i.e., the natural changes age brings. that fair thou ow'st (10): i.e., that beauty you possess. in eternal lines...growest (12): The poet is using a grafting metaphor in this line. Grafting is a technique used to join parts from two plants with cords so that they grow as one. Thus the beloved becomes immortal, grafted to time with the poet's cords (his "eternal lines"). For commentary on whether this sonnet is really "one long exercise in self-glorification", please see below. Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The stability of love and its power to immortalize the poetry and the subject of that poetry is the theme. The poet starts the praise of his dear friend without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his friend into that of a perfect being. His friend is first compared to summer in the octave, but, at the start of the third quatrain (9), he is summer, and thus, he has metamorphosed into the standard by which true beauty can and should be judged. SUMMARY The speaker of Sonnet 18 is writing a love poem for a friend. In the sonnet, his beauty is contrasted to that of a summer’s day. Summer may be pleasant, but the speaker claims that his friend’s beauty far surpasses it. For one, the man is more temperate - he is gentler, more constant, and more controlled. He is safely more reliant than a summer’s day. Summer has harsh winds. Sometimes, it is too hot. Other times, the sun is blocked by clouds. However, unlike ever-changing summer, his friend’s lovely appearance is consistent. Moreover, the beauty of summer declines, as it passes into fall. The speaker claims that his friend’s ‘eternal summer’ (line 9) †his beauty - will never fade, even if he were to age and die. According to the speaker, so long as his verse survives, humanity lives, and men can see, his beloved friend will be immortalized †in full bloom, at his prime †in the lines of verse. CONTRIBUTION TO WESTERN LITERATURE The sonnet is a 14-line poem originating from Italy, during the 13th century, under the heavy influence of the poet Francesco Petrarch. Brought into English literature in the 16th century by Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, modifications were made to the Italian sonnet form, from which originated the English, or Elizabethan sonnet. Substituting the Italian octave-sestet division, Elizabethan sonnets were divided into 3 quatrains (rhymed abab cdcd efef) and a closing couplet (rhymed gg), with every line written in iambic pentameter. This format determines the subject of the sonnet: a certain idea is developed in each quatrain, before the sonnet wraps up, and states its theme in the couplet. Shakespeare had written Sonnet 18 as part of a larger sonnet sequence, simply titled The Sonnets. In a nutshell, they are a collection of 154 sonnets dealing with themes such as love, friendship, beauty, politics, and mortality. Written over a period of several years, the sonnets were sectioned according to their content. Sonnet 18 falls into the category of sonnets 1-126, in which the poet addresses an unnamed young man commonly known among readers as the ‘Fair Youth’. Coming after the ‘procreation sonnets’ , this sonnet elaborates on the speaker’s love for his friend. The poet writes to the Fair Youth in romantic and loving language. It is still debated whether the poet and his subject were involved in a homosexual relationship, or a close platonic bond. Going against all the conventions of Petrarchan sonnets, Shakespeare’s sonnets dealt with themes other writers’ works did not. They addressed human evils, commented on political events, parodied idealistic conventions of beauty, played with gender roles, and spoke openly about sex. Moreover, their masterful use of language, and realistic takes on the many faces of love has helped open the literary world to ‘modern’ love poetry. Having said that, Sonnet 18 is an example of Shakespeare’s ‘tamer’ (in terms of subject matter) works. Nevertheless, it does not fail to express its author’s literary skill. In tribute to its greatest practitioner, the Elizabethan sonnet has also been dubbed the ‘Shakespearean sonnet’. PLOT Shakespeare begins Sonnet 18 rather differently: with a question (‘Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?’ (line 1)). His playful tone serves to express that he is merely toying with the idea. This clues the reader in that once again, the poet may be ‘coloring outside the lines’ of another common poetic comparison. Thus, the first line of the sonnet serves to be its hook. The manner of the speaker is so light-hearted and pleasant, yet, it seems he already knows the answer to the question he poses. Curiosity is invoked within the reader. From this point on †being a lyric poem †the sonnet proceeds chronologically. By the second line, the poet realizes he has made a mistake, as comparing the Youth to a summer’s day does his feelings no justice. There is situational irony injected, as the readerâ expectations of a typical comparison are left unfulfilled. Shakespeare questions the idea of his friend being as gorgeous as a summer day, but then raises the ante by saying he is more impressive. The connotation of a summer’s day is already pleasant: the image denotes illumination, brilliance, and life. And yet, the youth is more ‘lovely and more temperate’ (line 2) †he is gentler, more constant, more controlled. In addition, summer passes †its ‘lease hath all too short a date’ (line 4). The financial term, ‘lease’, expresses the formal fact that summer has its allotted time. At this point of the sonnet, the exposition is achieved. Shakespeare has introduced †in his first quatrain - two arguments as to why his friend’s beauty far surpasses that of summer †arguments he will later expand in the second quatrain. Though there is no definite conflict in the story, one may claim that Shakespeare’s criticism of the faults of summer †in order to glorify his friend †presents the issue of man versus environment. According to the speaker, a summer day has violent excesses. Sometimes, the sun shines too brightly. Shakespeare implores the use of a metaphor to describe the sun as ‘the eye of heaven’ (line 5). In the following line, Shakespeare turns to personify the sun with sight-imagery: ‘often is his gold complexion dimmed’ (line 6). Not only is it too hot, some days, it is overcast. Then, the poet expands his second argument †the beauty of summer fades, whether by chance or nature. There is repetition of the word ‘fair’ in ‘fair from fair sometimes declines’ to emphasize his point that all beautiful things will fall from perfection. This statement serves to foreshadow the poet’s intent to immortalize his friend (to be introduced in the third quatrain). The action escalates in the second quatrain. In the third quatrain, the climax is given. Coming right after the volta, the poet declares: ‘But thy eternal summer shall not fade’ (line 9). ‘Eternal summer’ is used as a metaphor for the friend’s beauty, so as to tie the statement in with the rest of the sonnet. Death is even personified to be unable to brag that it has robbed the friend of such beauty. There is use of anaphora with the word ‘nor’ in ‘Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor Death brag…’ (lines 10-11) to emphasize the speaker’s confidence, as well as parallel the two statements. Parallelism is carried on in the last line of the quatrain (line 12) as the poet declares his friend will be immortalized in ‘eternal lines’. This mirrors the mention of the ‘eternal summer’ in line 9, establishing how the poet wishes to preserve his friend. Thus, the sonnet concludes in the couplet. The speaker’s verse is personified to be a living thing (‘So long lives this’ (line 14)), alive by the appreciation of its readers. Thus, so long the verse is ‘alive’, the friend will be too. SETTING With full intention for his sonnet to be immortal, Shakespeare leaves little indication of a definite time and place. The only information provided is the reference to the month of May in line 3: ‘Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May’. This statement has an indirect correlation to the Elizabethan age, as May was considered the ‘summer month’ in Shakespeare’s time (the calendar in use lagged behind the true sidereal calendar: England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752). The social realities of the time are vague in the sonnet, the only cases being period ideas concerning love and relationships. For one, Sonnet 18 illustrates the Elizabethan notion of immortalizing a beloved through art. This concept was popular among the literati of the time, as all believed that art was timeless. Queen Elizabeth’s ‘Golden Age’ had brought about a ‘Merry England’, full of zest for life: expressing itself in music, literature, architecture, and adventurous seafaring. Art’s increasing importance led to a belief that it could transcend mortality. The ‘Golden Age’ also brought about a touch of idealism, which carried into the literature of the time. Very much like its cousin the Petrarchan Sonnet, the Elizabethan sonnet idealized its subjects and placed them on pedestals. One can observe this from the manner in which the speaker describes his beloved. The only setting mentioned in the sonnet is that of summertime. Though the events within sonnet don’t actually take place during the summer, the mention of the summer’s day here bears a symbolic purpose. First, the summer day acts as a contrast to the speaker’s friend, which from its ‘flaws’, the speaker draws his compliments. At this point, Shakespeare is defying the typical connotation of a summer day, depicting it as excessive and rough. In contrast, the friend is described to be perfect (‘Thou art more lovely and more temperate’ (line 2)). This comparison quite ironic, as usually, it is nature that is ‘perfect’, and humans that are ‘flawed’. Toward the end of the poem, however, the summer day is used as a metaphor for the friend’s beauty. Shakespeare then changes the implication of the summer day again, back to something warm, beautiful, and lively. POINT OF VIEW Sonnet 18 is written in first person, with the speaker addressing his beloved. As the poem is a lyric, it makes sense that the speaker would express his feelings in the most provocative way possible. Thus, the reader of the sonnet is put into the same position as the speaker’s friend. Hearing of the speaker’s feelings directly enables the reader to have a more emotional response to the poem. The main occasion where the poet employs significant detail is in the second quatrain of the sonnet, where he elaborates on the imperfections of nature. Employing the use of sight-imagery and metaphors, the first two lines talk about how excessive summer is, in contrast to his ‘mild and temperate’ (line 2) love. The last two lines of the quatrain talk of the brevity of summer. Line 8 claims that summer’s beauty may decline by chance accidents, or fluctuating tides of nature (‘nature’s course untrimmed’), which are not subject to control. One may also note the interesting use of the word ‘untrimmed’ in line 8. It is actually a pun, both referring to the ballast on a ship which keeps it stable, as well as the state of being untrimmed †the lack of decoration. Thus, from the statement, Shakespeare describes the fluctuations of nature, as well as its simplicity. CHARACTERIZATION The protagonist of Sonnet 18 is the person the unnamed speaker is addressing †the Fair Youth. The poet merely plays the role of the narrator. Throughout the poem, the speaker contrasts his beloved friend with a summer’s day. After the volta (line 9 onwards), he expresses the typical poetic desire to eternalize his muse. This is his character’s motivation. The poem may have been written to win over his friend’s affections, but more importantly, the speaker simply wants to glorify him. Thus, though the speaker remains unchanged (after all he does not face any kind of emotional turmoil within the poem) his delicate observations concerning his friend, thought processes, and powerful expression of feelings makes him a round character. The identity of the speaker is kept hidden throughout the poem. Many scholars have suspected that Shakespeare’s sonnets may have been autobiographical, to which leads into another debated issue, of whether the speaker of the sonnet’s relationship with the Fair Youth is platonic or romantic. One can make many cases for this as well. After all, what is seemingly a gesture of homosexual interest in the 21st century is ruled as a loving, unisex gesture of friendship in the Elizabethan era. The second character in the sonnet is the Fair Youth. In the poem, he has a vague identity. He comes off as a static character, as well as a flat one. The speaker of the poem had not set off to accurately depict his beloved friend. Rather, Sonnet 18, like many other love poems of the era, has idealized its muse. Thus, the Fair Youth is merely a common motif that appears in the first 126 sonnets written by Shakespeare. Characters similar to him have appeared in the works of other romantic poets as well, particularly those in Shakespeare’s time. Though the Fair Youth is male (as stated in the procreation sonnets), his gender is quite ambiguous in Sonnet 18. In fact, a reader unaware of the Fair Youth’s role in Shakespeare’s works may even presume the poem was written for a beautiful woman. The comparison made to a summer’s day does not lend much insight into the character of the Youth himself, but rather, how the speaker perceives him. That is, the poet sees the Youth as young, beautiful, in his prime, as well as being full of life, warmth, and gentleness. Being the subject of the poem, the Youth †though not a character of depth †is its protagonist. Other characters in the sonnet are merely static, flat personifications of heaven, the sun, and the speaker’s verse. These personalities do not play a crucial role in the sonnet, and are merely given human-like characteristics through metaphors, to make the sonnet more poetic and figurative. THEME All in all, Sonnet 18 addresses the theme †or the act of †immortalization through art. The poet believes that art can transcend mortality. In comparison to previous sonnets of the ‘procreation sequence’, one can identify that as the Fair Youth had refused to have a child, the poet has set his mind on immortalizing the Youth’s beauty by other means. His solution is clearly stated in line 12 (‘When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st’). The poet plans to capture the Youth’s beauty in his verse (‘eternal lines’ (line 12)), which he believes will withstand the ravages of time. Stemming from ‘immortalization through art’ comes the romantic theme of idealizing one’s beloved. The speaker is very much in awe of his friend’s beauty. This awe is expressed in his words and gestures. First, he goes through a great deal comparing his friend’s physical perfection to summer, which becomes inferior in contrast. Then, he proceeds to immortalize his friend in his verse. In addition, the sonnet also poses the triumph of artistic beauty over natural beauty. In a rather ironic comparison, natural beauty †which is often idealized in many other poems to be poetic, serene, and in harmony (i.e. Sappho) †is written in the sonnet to be excessive, harsh, and rather disappointing. To which, triumphing imperfect nature would be none other than the speaker’s muse †or, at least, an idealized, artistically-rendered version of him. The summer’s day is used perfectly to support this theme. At first, it poses as a comparison to the Fair Youth. Later in the poem, it becomes a metaphor for ‘fairness at youth’ (see SETTING), thus displaying that artistic beauty can triumph over nature’s beauty. 3.In the sonnet, the poet compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. The poet also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem. By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever. "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." The lover's beauty will live on, through the poem which will last as long as it can be read. Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The stability of love and its power to immortalize the poetry and the subject of that poetry is the theme. The poet starts the praise of his dear friend without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his friend into that of a perfect being. His friend is first compared to summer in the octave, but, at the start of the third quatrain (9), he is summer, and thus, he has metamorphosed into the standard by which true beauty can and should be judged. Shakespeare questions the idea of his friend being as gorgeous as a summer day, but then raises the ante by saying he is more impressive. There is repetition of the word ‘fair’ in ‘fair from fair sometimes declines’ to emphasize his point that all beautiful things will fall from perfection. This statement serves to foreshadow the poet’s intent to immortalize his friend (to be introduced in the third quatrain). The action escalates in the second quatrain. In the third quatrain, the climax is given. The poet plans to capture the Youth’s beauty in his verse (‘eternal lines’ (line 12)), which he believes will withstand the ravages of time. First, he goes through a great deal comparing his friend’s physical perfection to summer, which becomes inferior in contrast. Then, he proceeds to immortalize his friend in his verse.