Merrell Pressley
Mrs. Jernigan
English Lit AP
23 February 2011
Poetry Response #5
In Sonnet XVIII, which is more commonly known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” William Shakespeare epitomizes the art of “sonneting.” In addition, he tells the depth of a love that can only be explained through a heartfelt fourteen lines; Shakespeare makes every other man appear speechless, in a bad way. With the last two lines of the poem taking a step away and universalizes the theme of the poem.
Shakespeare compares his love to a beautiful day in summer. However, as he writes, “often is his gold complexion dimmed,” he discusses the too truthful fact that summer quickly fades. Here the metaphor breaks down, and this distinguishes the woman of his desires from the beautiful days of summer. In addition, he calls her an “eternal summer,” establishing that her beauty will never dim, but “when in eternal lines [she grows].” This flowery metaphor is his way of describing that his appreciation for her beauty will only deepen and strengthen with time.
In the last two lines, which rhyme and are referred to as a couplet, Shakespeare relates this poem to every common man in love. He writes, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” In other words, from love springs life. His metaphor of her as a beautiful summer day, with the sun shining and flowers in full bloom represents not only that his love grows and blooms with time, but that life can only bloom from love. Without love, one must resign to no life at all, for it is not worth living without.
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