In his sonnet, William Shakespeare discusses a man, possessing characteristics associated with nature, and how said nature and its seasons of summer/spring are perennial, as well as elaborating on the splendor of art and flora. The theme is the timelessness of love and admiration. How change is an inevitable prospect, yet, it does not hinder the poet’s veneration for their subject of love. He explicitly expresses this notion through the manipulation and application of figurative language, poetic devices, and imagery.
Love and admiration are palpable emotions expansively elaborated in the sonnet. William Shakespeare smolders the subject with admiration, saying, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate”, inquiring whether a comparison of this subject to a ‘summer's day’, is appropriate, or even worthy of an analogy, as the poet’s subject possesses attributes that transcend that of nature.
The use of metaphors is a discerning and perceptible technique integrated into which the author purposefully manipulates this feature to orchestrate the audience’s consideration of the sentiment of the poem. For example, in the line “But thy eternal summer shall not fade”, he cultivates the use of a metaphor that does inveterate the main human subject, and summer will habitually stay young and everlasting, and the timelessness of love is perpetual, despite emotional destruction by nature and the inevitable change of season.
A marvelous further use of personification is evident in line 4: “And summer's lease hath all too short a date”. Physically, summer cannot ‘lease’ time, objects, or tangible substances, yet it’s inferred that he feels as though the time summer has chartered, is too brief, and he qualms that there will be detrimental effects succeeding the aftermath of summer. In line 11, “Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade”, the poet establishes his notion that the sonnet itself is an assurance that this person's magnificence will be unrelenting, and their beauty defies even the claws of death. Assonance and repetition are noteworthy attributes within most lines, which contribute to the constitution and soundscape: shake/May, eye/shines, fair from fair, chance/nature/changing, remaining consistent, and ensuring engagement and diversity within the devices utilized.
The intensity of spring and summer can be felt, and the environment associated with these seasons, yet discontented with the conclusion of the mellow, and heartfelt season. The imagery bequeaths a delightful sentiment, one robust, passionate, and eternal. William Shakespeare certainly accomplished his goal of embracing and elaborating on his admiration and love for the subject of his affection. Undeniably, he sought to articulate this powerful sentiment and invoke these feelings within the audience. This concentrated excitement is to be perceived as exhilarating or heartfelt and mellow.
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Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18: Literary Analysis.
(2024, January 04). Edubirdie. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/literary-analysis-of-william-shakespeares-sonnet-18-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day/
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Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18: Literary Analysis [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2024 Jan 04 [cited 2024 Nov 21].
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