Sonnet No. 18 Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day

                           Sonnet No. 18 Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day

1. The Sonnet is addressed to  --Mr.W.H.

2. The Phrase ‘Summer’s day refers to  --summer season.

3. The poems begins with ---both interrogation and simile.

4. The month referred by the poet ----May.

5. ‘The eye of heaven’ refers to  --the Sun.

6. The phrase ‘gold complexion’ is applied to  --the Sun.

7. Meaning--- i) Temperate—Moderate. Ii) Dimmed—faded. (loose colour)  iii) Declines – Decreases  gradually.  iv) Untrimmed –Unchanged. V) Lease –a contract or an agreement. Vi) Brag—Boast.

8. Which age did Shakespeare belong to ?

Ans: Shakespeare belonged to the great Elizabethan Age.

9. Which season is mentioned in ‘Sonnet 18’ ?

Ans: The season summer is mentioned in ‘Sonnet 18’.

10. The word ‘lease’ is ---legal germ.

11. What do rough winds do in the season of summer?

Ans: The rough winds shake the beautiful buds of the month, may in summer.

12. How is the ‘gold complexion’ of the dimmed?

Ans: The ‘gold complexion’ of the sun is dimmed by clouds.

13. What does the ‘fair’ mean here?

Ans: The first ‘fair’ means ‘beautiful object’ and second ‘ fair’ means ‘beauty’.

14. What is meant by ‘Summer’s lease’?

Ans: The phrase ‘summer’s lease’ suggests a very short period of time remainded for the summer.

15. What will make the beauty of the poet’s friend eternal?

Ans: The verses written by the poet will make the beauty of his friend eternal.

16.What are the fair possessions that the poet’s friend owns?

Ans: The fair possessions owned by the poet’s friend are beauty and youth.

17. How does Shakespeare personify ‘death’?

Ans: Shakespeare personifies ‘death’ by saying that he is like a boastful man taking pride in his fatal power.

18. Whose shade is referred her in the phrase ‘his shade’?

Ans: ‘His shade’ refers to the shadow of death or the darkness of death.

19. What does the poet mean by the phrase ‘life to thee’ in the poem?

Ans: The phrase ‘life to thee’ means beauty and youthfulness for the poet’s friend, which would be provided by the poet’s verses only.

20. How does the poet suggest that the beauty of his friend shall never fade?

Ans: The poet says that the beauty of his friend shall not fade by declaring that his verses will           immortalize the friend’s eternal summer.

21.What does Shakespeare compare his friend to?

Ans: Shakespeare compares his friend to a beautiful summer’s day .

22. How is the sun described?

Ans: In the summer the sun is very bright and hot and often bedimmed by cloud.

23. The poem ‘Sonnet 18’ is by tone---Optimistic.

Rhyme and rhythm

A  Shakespearean sonnet consists for fourteen lines, each containing ten syllables and written in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter means that the poem has a fixed rhythm in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. This is repeated five times in each line, giving a total of ten syllables per line. If we look at the final couplet of this sonnet, for example, we can see rhythm clearly.

I have underlined the stressed syllables only.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, land this gives life to thee.

Themes: Love: The love expressed in this poem is simply, yet movingly expressed. The language is quite straightforward and each line is quite self-contained. This can be seen in the number of punctuation marks: most lines end with one.

1. Justify the title of the poem ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day.

Ans:  Very often Shakespeare chooses the first line of his sonnet as the title of his poem. Sonnet no. 18 is no exception. The poem starts with a question if he can compare the beauty of his friend to the beauty of a summer’s day. But he answers that the beauty of the summer’s day is disturbed sometimes by natural system. Rough winds destroy the sweet buds of May. Moreover, summer days are lived for a short period of time. Sometimes the sun shines too hot and sometimes the ‘gold complexion’ is dimmed by the cloud. The poet expresses his desire to protect his friend’s beauty from such changes. The poet confidently says that as long as men would breathe and eyes would see, his verse would be read, and these eternal lines would immortalize the beauty of his friend. The title here is meaningful as it relates the theme of the poem and its interrogative intonation makes the comparison between the poet’s friend and the summer’s day vivid.

2. Describe the charm and beauty of poet’s beloved as reflected in sonnet no. 18.

Or—What is the substance of the poem ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day ?

Or—What is the central idea of the poem ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Or—Discuss how the theme of the poem shifts from mutability.

Or—What idea of immortality do you get from sonnet No. 18 of William Shakespeare?

 Ans. In the poem ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’ we come to know that the poet wants to immortalize his friend’s beauty through his verse. The poem begins with a question. He asks if he can compare  the beauty of his friend to the beauty of a summer’s day. But he replies that the beauty of the summer’s day is disturbed sometimes by natural system. Rough winds destroy the sweet buds of May. Moreover, summer days are short lived. Sometimes the sun shines very hot and sometimes its brightness is bedimmed. The poet expresses his desire to protect his friend’s beauty from such changes. The poet confidently says that as long as men would breathe and eyes would see, his verse would be read, and these eternal lines would immortalize the beauty of his friend.

3. “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”—Where is the line taken from? Who is the poet? What does ‘this’ refer to here? How can ‘this’ give life to ‘thee’?

Ans: The line is taken from the poem “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

         William Shakespeare wrote this poem.

         The word ‘this’ refers to the sonnet.

          From the poem ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’ we come to know that poet is moved by the beauty of his friend. But he is conscious of the power of death. He knows that death cannot be denied and his friend also cannot escape death physically. The poet knows that the power of the poetry. Poetry is eternal and it lives an eternal life. So, the poet confidently says that as long men would breathe and eyes would see, his verse would be gone through, and these eternal lines would immortalize the beauty and worth of his friend.

4. “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines”—what does the poet mean by ‘the eye of heaven’? What is the implication of the sentence “And every fair from fair sometimes declines”? How does the poet justify that the eternal summer of his friend will never fade?

Ans: In the poem ‘Sonnet No. 18’ we come to know that ‘the eye of heaven’ refers to the sun.

         The sun is as important in the sky as eyes are to a human body. The poet uses ‘the sun’ metaphorical expression.

          According the poet nature changes its beauty sometimes. The sun shines brightly but sometimes the ‘gold complexion’ is dimmed by the clouds and, the beauty of the summer will fade. It is a law of nature that every mortal and earthly possession, however beautiful it will be destroyed by time.
         This verse gives life to the poet’s young friend. The poet says that all beautiful objects of nature are subject to change and decay. But the poet’s friend remains unchanged in his beauty and appeal through his verse.

5.   “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” –What do the rough winds do? What does the phrase ‘summer’s lease’ suggest? What are deficiencies of the summer season?

Ans: From the poem “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” we come to know that the rough wind sometimes shakes off the darling buds and changes the natural beauty.

          The phrase ‘summer’s lease’ means a short duration of time.  Summer will not continue forever. It stays for a little period of time.  It suggests the span of life granted to summer.

          In the days of summer the rough winds blow down the sweet buds. The shines brightly but sometimes the sunlight is dimmed by the clouds. In nature the duration of the summer days are very short. The beauty of the summer will fade. Here Shakespeare builds the image of his friend by comparing his beauty to the summer. Thus the nature of summer sometimes becomes rough and cruel but the friend of the poet is mild, lovely and temperate.

6. “So long as men can breathe--------this gives life to thee.”What does ‘this’ refer to ? Who is referred to by ‘thee’? How does ‘this’ give life?

Ans: In the poem ‘Sonnet No. 18’ we come to know ‘this’ refers to the verse

        ‘Thee’ implies to the poet’s friend Mr. W.H.

         In the sonnet the poet establishes a comparison between summer and the youth of his friend. It is in this final couplet that the poet breaks the device. The poet is moved by the impressive beauty of his friend. But he is aware of the power of death. He knows that his friend cannot escape death physically. But he is also confident of the power of his verse. The poetry lives an eternal life. The poet confidently asserts that as long as men would breathe and eyes would see, his verse would be read, and these eternal lines would immortalize the beauty and worth of his friend.