ORT Greenberg K. Tivon1 Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare Irena Tseitlin

ORT Greenberg K. Tivon2 Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare 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 dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

ORT Greenberg K. Tivon3 Comments notes: line 1: summer's day = summer season line 10: ow'st = ownest line 14: this = this poem In the sonnet, Shakespeare makes his beloved immortal by means of his poetry. This theme is a conventional one in Elizabethan sonnets. The first line, a question, proposes a comparison between Shakespeare's beloved and a summer season. Summer is chosen because it is lovely and pleasant. In the second line the comparison is restricted: in outward appearance and character the beloved person is more beautiful and less extreme than summer. The reasons for the restriction are given in the next four lines which describe the less pleasant aspects of summer. 1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 2. Thou art more lovely and more temperate. 3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date. 5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 6. And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

ORT Greenberg K. Tivon4 Comments… In the seventh and eighth lines Shakespeare complains that every beauty will become less one day. The ninth line takes up the comparison with summer again: summer has by now become the summer of life. The comparison turns into a contrast by referring back to the seventh. The poet's assurance becomes even firmer in lines eleven and twelve, which contain a promise that death will be conquered. 'Eternal lines' refers to lines of poetry but also suggest lines of shape. It points forward to the triumphant couplet which explains and summarizes the theme: poetry is immortal and makes beauty immortal. 7. And every fair from fair sometime declines, 8. By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; 9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade 10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; 11. Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, 12. 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.

ORT Greenberg K. Tivon5 Comments… Because of the step by step arguments Shakespeare's conclusion makes the impression of great certainty. Shakespeare wrote a series of sonnets, most of which were probably addressed to a noble young man for whom he felt deep love and admiration. In many of them he deals with the problem of time, sometimes optimistically as in the present sonnet, sometimes in a mood of despair. From: 'Enjoying Literature' by H.J. van Moll and N. Kortland

ORT Greenberg K. Tivon6 Why is Mona Lisa smiling?