Sonnet Analysis (Draft #3)

Shakespearean Sonnet 018
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 often is his gold complexion dimmed,//
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed://
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest 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.//

A Poem of Eternal Life

Shakespeare is arguably the most famous English poet and playwright, as well as a genius at using rhyme schemes and polysemy. He is especially well known for his sonnets, 14 lines of iambic pentameter, which employ 3 quatrains and an ending couplet. One of his most popular sonnets, sonnet number eighteen, is a lover's poem about everlasting beauty. It explores the secret to immortality: explaining how a lover’s sweetheart will evade death and aging. The sonnet also talks about her beauty, the quality of it, and how it will last forever.

The poem starts off with a question from a lover asking his beloved, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” He chooses the comparison of a “summer’s day”, because the summer is bright, beautiful, and warm. His sweetheart, presumably, has all of these qualities. A summer’s day is also one of the longest days of the year. This can relate to the love for his sweetheart, because it is long lasting as a summer’s day, as opposed to length of a winter’s day. Then, answering his own question, the speaker concludes that she is, "more lovely and more temperate" (2). The word Temperate, meaning that his sweetheart is gentle, warm, and self-controlled.  Supporting this conclusion, he points out that a summer’s day is only as beautiful as the elements allow it to be. For example, if the day is very windy, it detracts from the beauty of that summer day, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” (3). In addition, he points out that summer is far too short. Even though summer is the longest month of the year, it always has to end, giving way to autumn.

     In the poem, the next thought tells us that the summer is not as perfect as his sweetheart. In the same way that harsh winds take the beauty out of a summer's day, if the sun glows too brightly, it will also ruin that day. The sun can glare and make summer unpleasantly hot, “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines”. Shakespeare's choice of “eye” in reference to the sun is a good example of personification. This pertains to the myths of how humans were created by “father sky” and “mother earth”. In addition, this thought points out that while the sun’s “gold complexion” dims, his sweetheart’s beauty will not.

The next two lines outline the concept that all beauty at some time will fade, with the exception of his sweetheart’s beauty. It starts with the idea that beauty is not everlasting, a beautiful person's good looks will at some time diminish, as "every fair from fair sometime declines" (7). This may happen purely by chance, for example, if one is injured in an accident and is grossly deformed.  But usually, beauty fades because of old age, because of "nature’s changing course untrimmed" (8).The word Untrimmed, meaning that nature’s changing course, the cycle of life, will not change. “Nature’s changing course” pertaining to the cycle of life in which one is born, grows into a beautiful young being, and then gets old, withers, and dies.

The speaker goes on to talk about all the ailments that can affect beauty: accidents, death, and old age. However, his sweetheart's beauty will not grow dull, nor will she lose possession of her good looks. His sweetheart will also never die, meaning that death will not be able to brag of his possession of her spirit, “Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade” (11). This is because she grows in "eternal lines to time" (12), meaning time has no effect on her. Shakespeare uses the word eternal, never ending, and this implies that time has an end. When Shakespeare was living in the 16th and 17th centuries, the average life expectancy for a person was about 40 years of age. With people dying so young in their lives, their time on earth would end very quickly. By saying that his sweetheart can avoid death, old age, and the loss of good looks, you might  think that the lover is talking to a goddess or immortal being.

The ending couplet is about how this sonnet will keep his sweethearts beauty preserved. The lover goes on to say as long as people are alive, "so long as men can breathe or eyes can see" (13), then this poem lives on, and will allow you to live, “so long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. By ending the sonnet this way, Shakespeare makes me think that maybe his sweetheart has died and this is his farewell to her. It could also mean that he is writing to his sweetheart while a far distance separates them. Either way, it definitely seems as though something negative has happened, and the lover is reassuring his sweetheart about her fears of death.

The idea that writing a poem or piece can give someone “eternal life” is intriguing. People have always wanted to be remembered forever.  When Achilles, the famed hero of Greek mythology, was offered the choice of "a short life with eternal fame or a long life as a nameless nobody," he chose eternal fame. People want their lives to be looked back upon; they want to feel their lives were worth remembering. Who would think that the secret to eternal life, something that would be worth millions, could be something as simple at writing a poem? This sonnet is a perfect example of how writing could be the secret to immortality. The sonnet was written in Shakespeare's lifetime, five centuries ago, and it lives on through today. In this sonnet Shakespeare reveals the secret to immortality, and the sonnet itself, is all the proof he needs.

Bibliography

Harry, Tim. "Who Was Achilles and What Do You Know about Him? - by Tim Harry - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Jan.-Feb. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/items/1381048-who-was-achilles-and-what-do-you-know-about-him>.

N/A, N/A. "Shakespeares Sonnets." Poetry. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://poetry.eserver.org/sonnets/>.

N/A, N/a. "Various Words." Oxford English Dictionary: The Definitive Record of the English Language. July-Aug. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.oed.com/>.

Nelson, C. "The Early Days: 2800 BC - 1700 AD." A Brief History of the Apocalypse. 3 June 2003. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm>.

Reflection On Strengths and Weaknesses

Revised 10/26/10

IDEAS: I think all my ideas are strong and fairly complete in this paper.
ORGANIZATION: I would say this is probably the easiest part of this paper for me to complete.
VOICE: I think my voice is fine.
WORD CHOICE: My only worry is that I might sometimes use more sophisticated words in the wrong context.
SENTENCE FLUENCY: This is one of the areas I know that I struggle in, but I do think that I put my best effort into it.
CONVENTIONS: Also a big area where I struggle, I’m hoping I caught everything.