"Sonnet 18" is a sonnet written by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. The poem was likely written in the 1590s, though it was not published until 1609. Like many of Shakespeare's sonnets, the poem wrestles with the nature of beauty and with the capacity of poetry to represent that beauty. Praising an anonymous person (usually believed to be a young man), the poem tries out a number of clichéd metaphors and similes, and finds each of them wanting. It then develops a highly original and unusual simile: the young man's beauty can be best expressed by comparing him to the poem itself.
|
Get
LitCharts
|
|
The Full Text of “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
1Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
2Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
3Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
4And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
5Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
6And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
7And every fair from fair sometime declines,
8By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
9But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
10Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
11Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
12When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
13 So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
14 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
The Full Text of “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
1Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
2Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
3Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
4And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
5Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
6And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
7And every fair from fair sometime declines,
8By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
9But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
10Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
11Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
12When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
13 So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
14 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Summary
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Themes
-
Art and Immortality
- See where this theme is active in the poem.
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
-
Lines 1-4
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; -
Lines 5-6
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; -
Lines 7-8
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd; -
Lines 9-12
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: -
Lines 13-14
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Symbols
-
Seasons
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
The Sun
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Alliteration
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Anaphora
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Aporia
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
End-Stopped Line
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Euphony
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Diacope
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Personification
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
Juxtaposition
- See where this poetic device appears in the poem.
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Temperate
- Lease
- Complexion
- Fair
- Untrimmed
- Possession
- Ow'st
-
- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
-
Form
-
Meter
-
Rhyme Scheme
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Speaker
-
-
“Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Setting
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
-
-
More “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Resources
-
External Resources
-
"Sonnet 18" Read Aloud — Listen to actor David Tenant read "Sonnet 18" aloud.
-
Image of "Sonnet 18" in its 1609 Printing — An image of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" as it appeared in its first printing.
-
Close Reading of "Sonnet 18" — Richard Price close reads "Sonnet 18" for the British Library.
-
David Gilmour Sings "Sonnet 18" — David Gilmour from Pink Floyd performs a musical interpretation of the poem.
-
"Sonnet 18" Meter — Test your understanding of Shakespeare's meter with this interactive tool from the University of Virginia.
-
-
LitCharts on Other Poems by William Shakespeare
-
Ask LitCharts AI:
The answer to your questions
Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
