| Sonnet 18 Essay, Research Paper
SONNET 18
William Shakespeare?s Sonnet 18 is one of one hundred fifty four poems of fourteen lines
written in Iambic Pentameter. These sonnets exclusively employ the rhyme scheme, which has
come to be called the Shakespearean Sonnet. The sonnets are composed of an octet and sestet
and typically progress through three quatrains to a concluding couplet. It also contains figurative
language and different poetic devices used to create unique effects in his sonnets.
Shakespeare?s sonnets consist of words constructed in a certain manner or form, thoughts,
emotion and poetic devices. One way to interpret the sonnet is to think of ?thee? that
Shakespeare is referring to as a person. Following that line of thought the sonnet could read that
Shakespeare is in love with someone who is consistently beautiful. He tries to compare this
person to summer but summer is not as beautiful or constant. This person in Shakespeare?s eyes
will never grow old and ugly and not even Death can say that his person?s end is near.
In line 1, he starts the poem with a question. He asks if he should compare the person to
a summer?s day but ends up not doing so realizing that the person is superior. In the following 7
lines of this sonnet, he begins to show the differences between the person and a summer?s day.
He explains that the person?s characteristics is moderate and comfortable and has favorable
qualities in line 2. ?Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,? (line 3) means that the
rough winds of the summer can destroy the buds of the flowers and his particular person has no
such trait. In the forth line of the sonnet, Shakespeare justifies how summer is too short and
how his lover?s beauty does not end like this specific season does. In the next two lines, lines 5
and 6, the superb poet interpret the summer?s temperature. He explains how the summer can be
extremely hot and uncomfortable. He also describes how the sun can be dulled due to the
covering of clouds. It can obscure or shadow the earth, unlike the shining beauty of his lover.
Although Sonnet 18 is an extended metaphor, line 7 has a literal meaning that explains itself:
?And every fair from fair sometime declines,? With fair meaning beautiful, he is saying that
everything that is beautiful must come to an end and that all beauty fades except the one of his
lover. The next line is an example of the reasons why beauty fades. Chance makes beauty fade
by something dreadful happening. He says that natures changing course untrimmed meaning
that the seasons changing direction, path or time can deteriorate beauty.
In line 8, the turning point of the sonnet, Shakespeare specifies that something is
changing by using the simple word But. He goes on to explain that the person?s beauty will not
die. He itemizes eternal to mean that the person?s charm will live forever. You are not going to
lose possession of that beauty that you own, Shakespeare explains in line 10. In the eleventh line
of the sonnet, he says that Death won?t be able to brag that he has possession of the persons
beauty. In other words, the beloved will never die. At the end of the sonnet, he writes about
?eternal lines? which symbolizes that the beloved?s beauty will grow in this poem forever. In
the last two lines of this poem, lines 13 and 14, the poet means that as long as people read this
poem, that the beloved?s beauty will live. He also describes how the person will live in the spirit
and beauty of the poem. It could also represent the poem itself, which keeps the person beautiful
forever.
This sonnet has a basic form or structure. In this sonnet there are fourteen lines
divided into two clear parts, an opening octet which has 8 lines and a closing sestet which has 6
lines with a fixed rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgg. The octave presents the narrative, states the
proposition or raises a question. The sestet drives home the narrative by making an abstract
comment, applies the proposition, or solves the problem. In Sonnet 18 the octave says that the
beloved is better than a summers day. It develops the idea of this sonnet. The sestet then
explains why the beloved is better than a summer?s day. The sestet also states that the lover will
live forever. Instead of the octave and sestet divisions, this sonnet characteristically embodies
four divisions. Three quatrains of four lines each with a rhyme scheme of its own, and a rhymed
couplet. In this case, the rhyme scheme of the quatrains is: abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet
at the end is usually a commentary on the foregoing.
Some types of poetic devices that are frequently used in this love poem are meter, rhyme,
assonance, consonance, repetition, end & internal rhyme and alliteration. Meter is a sort of up
down bouncy ball type of sound that goes along with the line of poetry. It has accents and
unaccented syllables. Alliteration works by repeating one or more letters at the beginning of a
word throughout a line. Some examples of alliteration (shown in italics in the sonnet above) in
this sonnet is spread out in all fourteen lines. Words like shall summers, thee to, thou
temperate, art and, more more, do darling, and all a, summers short, sometime shines, too the,
hot heaven, fair from fair, summer shall and time thou are all examples of alliteration.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Examples of assonance (shown in bold in the
sonnet above) are spread throughout sonnet 18. Words such as compare summers, rough buds,
sometime declines, in his, thou grow?st, breathe see and lives his gives are all assonance.
Consonance, which means that the final consonants agree, is also used in this specific sonnet.
Some consonance examples (shown underlined in the sonnet above) are compare more, winds
buds, is his, fair fair, eternal shall, that ow?st, when in, men can, and lives this this are some good
examples of consonance. We also have end rhyme used in this Shakespearean sonnet such as day
may, temperate date, shines declines, dimmed untrimmed, fade shade, ow?st grow?st, and see
thee (shown in a script font in the sonnet above). Internal rhymes are also used such as: Lines 1
and 2, thee and lovely. We also have lines 3 and 4, do and too. Another example of an internal
rhyme is heaven and complexion and is his from lines 5 and 6. Repetition is very common in this
sonnet. In line 2 we have more and more, in lines 4 and 5 he also shows too and too. In lines 6
and 7 and and & fair fair. Towards the end of the sonnet, lines 10,11 and 12 show nor nor and
thou thou. The rhymed couplet has three repetitions which are so long, so long, can, can and
this, this.
Although William Shakespeare?s Sonnet 18 is an extended metaphor, there are other
examples of figurative language throughout the poem. In this sonnet, we have figurative
language such as metaphor, conceit, personification, antithesis, synecdoche or they just remain
self explanatory (literal). The conceit, controlling idea, of this poem is in line one when Thee is
being compared to a summer?s day, which is also a metaphor. Antithesis is shown in line 14
when Shakespeare says ?So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.? This is the balancing of
contrasting terms. An example of synecdoche is in line 12 when ?lines? is referred to as the
whole poem. Examples of personification are seen in lines 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 and 14. In the third line,
Shakespeare says ?darling buds? giving human attributes to a flower. In line 4, summer is given
a life like quality to rent or to lease. The sun in line 5 is referred to as the eye of heaven. The sun
is being compared to a face having a gold complexion in line 6. In line 11 Death is being
compared to a braggart giving Death a human quality. In the last line of this sonnet, the poem
itself is being compared to a living thing. Although all the lines just mentioned are examples of
personification, they are all metaphors as well. Lines 7 and 13 have both literal meanings. These
two lines are self-explanatory and mean what they say. The remaining lines 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12
and 13 are all metaphors because throughout those lines, the beloved?s beauty is being
compared to the summer. Iambic Pentameter is essentially the meter or the basic rhythm of
Shakespeare?s sonnets.
Love is an intangible thing, and emotion, it can have no real definition, because it can
mean so many things depending on the situation. I enjoyed this sonnet because Shakespeare had
the ability to show his poetic skills in appropriating metaphors and conceits in clever ways, so
that the poem becomes, not just a tribute to the beloved but also a testament to his great skill as a
poet.
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