Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? - A poem by William Shakespeare

Poet: William Shakespeare
Poem: 18. Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Volume: The Sonnets
Year: Published/Written in 1609

Comment 6 of 6, added on May 1st, 2006 at 9:25 AM.

Okay, take it from an English teacher...

This sonnet falls in to the "young man" section of Shakespeare's sonnets. One of the popular opinions is that is was written to/for his patron of the time. (Of course, the patron was also rumored to be a lover, but that is a different story.) In any case, the sonnet is written to/about a MALE friend of Shakespeare's.

Line 6: "his golden complexion" does refer to the sun.
Line 11: "his shadow" refers to death's shadow.

The poem does not state overtly that it was written for a male friend. However, given the time it was written, commentary made by Shakespeare's contemporaries, and the sonnet's placement, is how scholar's determine it was written for a male.

Danielle Wilson from United States

Comment 5 of 6, added on April 18th, 2006 at 11:36 PM.

When it talks about HIS complaexion, shakespeare is not talking about a man. He is talking about the sun, when the sun sets.

missy from Canada

Comment 4 of 6, added on April 28th, 2005 at 3:24 PM.

Who talks about women and men? Big mistake! !
This poem is about an "eternal being"!

The poet begins with a rethorical question. This "attempt of a comparison" wants to describe the immense beauty and to include and expand all natural beauty and the lavishness of the complete harmony and fraternity of this "eternal being" he is referring too. He takes a summer day to embrass "all beautous things in nature hover in the background throughout."(www.shakespeares-sonnets.com)-
He goes on saying that this being is more lovely and more temperate. It is more gentle, more restrained and well tempered, just perfect. If one compares this second verse to the first one, we can see that the being the poet is talking about, is the complete idelization of the world. It is more lovely then a beautiful summer day and thus corresponds to our longings. The allusion to the weather stops at l.6. In this first part the poet has not just described the perfect being in opposition to nature but in opposition to the human being too! This is why he uses many personifications ( l.3 "rough winds" ,l.4 "summer's lease", l.5 "too hot the eye of heaven shines" , l.6, l.10, l.11 ..)
The second part going from l.7 to l.8 is a generalization exposing us the idea that beauty is fugitive and runaway; The seventh verse tells us that all beautiful things ("every fair") "occasionally become inferior in comparison with their essential previous state of beauty"(www.shakespeares-sonnets.com) The poet has now led us to the central theme, the leading topic of this poem: the being who is far from all those defaults and who gleams in opposition to the given examples. The poet corroborates the emphasis of this "dominion" with the anapher "Nor".
The conclusion going from l.13 to the end reveals us that this being could be everyone who perpetuates himself in verses, paintings, compositions, etc. (seen in general, not in view of this poem).

and don't hesitate writing me 4 comments !

Immanuel from Netherlands

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