
What is Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare about summer?
Sonnet 18 by 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;
What does Sonnet 18 compare a young man to?
In "Sonnet 18", the speaker compares a young man, the fair youth, to both the beauty and the impermanence of a summer's day. Like summertime, the young man is resplendent with "darling buds" and "gold complexion"; however, the speaker notes, he is actually "more lovely" than a summer's day.
What is Shakespeare Sonnet 18 line by line analysis?
Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis is an excellent post on Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis consists of stanza wise word meaning and paraphrase in order to help you Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis.
What does Shakespeare mean by ‘Eternal sonnet’?
After all, the sonnet’s lines, he less than modestly tells us, are ‘eternal’. In fairness, Shakespeare is also talking about the ability of writing more generally to keep the dead alive, metaphorically speaking, via its preservation and transmission in manuscript copying and via the still relatively new-fangled process of printing.

What is the meaning of eternal summer in the ninth line of Sonnet 18 but thy eternal summer shall not fade?
The speaker argues that, unlike the real summer, his beloved's summer (by which he means beautiful, happy years) will never go away, nor will the beloved lose his/her beauty.
What are referred to as eternal summer and eternal lines in Sonnet No 18?
Ans: The poet is William Shakespeare. The everlasting youthfulness and beauty of the poet's friend is referred to here as 'eternal summer'.
How does the poet Eulogise eternal summer?
4. How does the poet eulogise eternal summer? Ans: The poet feels that summer is a season of warmth and lovely flowers bloom all throughout. This everlasting summer represents endless youth and beauty.
What are the eternal lines in Sonnet 18?
SONNET 18PARAPHRASEWhen in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long as there are people on this earth,So long lives this and this gives life to thee.So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.11 more rows
What is the meaning of eternal summer?
The phrase 'eternal summer' refers to the everlasting beauty of the poet's friend. 'Eternal summer' means timeless beauty. The poet's friend is lovelier and more temperate than the summer's day, free from the decline of the 'fair' things and his beauty is beyond the power of death.
What is the central idea of these lines but thy eternal summer?
- These lines suggest that Shakespeare's feelings go further than admiration and friendship. - The tone of confidence, praise and admiration emerges from Shakespeare's use of iambic pentameter. - The words he stresses emphasises how he believes that the person is more beautiful than summer.
Why the poet's eternal summer will never fade?
Explanation: Eternal summer' means timeless beauty. The poet's friend is lovelier and more temperate than the summer's day, free from the decline of the 'fair' things and his beauty is beyond the power of death. ... The poet's friend's 'eternal summer shall never fade.
How is eternal summer maintained?
Ans) According to Shakespeare eternal summer can be maintained through the lines of his poetry, which will live eternally.
How does the poet suggest that the eternal summer shall not end?
The beloved's “eternal summer” shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,” the speaker writes in the couplet, “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
What does Shakespeare mean by eternal?
Answer: When Shakespeare says the woman will "grow" within the "eternal lines to time" he means that people will remember her because they remember the poem. He closes with "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/ so long lives this [the poem] and this gives life to thee."
What eternal lines mean?
Ans- "Eternal lines' indicate the verses of Sonnet No- 18 that will eternalize the poet's friend. The poet believes that death will fail to brag on his friend as his verses would keep him alive forever, by maintaining the eternal lines.
How does Shakespeare compare his beloved to a summer's day?
His beloved is compared to summer in the first 8 lines as “more lovely and more temperate” than a summer's day, but at the start of the 9th line, his beloved becomes summer as the poet states, “but thy eternal summer shall not fade.” With the 9th line of a sonnet often being the volta or the “turn” of the poem, this ...
What does eternal lines refer to?
When Shakespeare says the woman will "grow" within the "eternal lines to time" he means that people will remember her because they remember the poem. He closes with "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see/ so long lives this [the poem] and this gives life to thee."
What do the last two lines of Sonnet 18 mean?
Then follows the concluding couplet: "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." The poet is describing not what the youth is but what he will be ages hence, as captured in the poet's eternal verse — or again, in a hoped-for child.
What do the lines refer to 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?
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, 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....Translating Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.Article written by:Richard PricePublished:7 Apr 2017Apr 7, 2017
What is the complexion of the sun as referred to in Sonnet 18?
As a result, Shakespeare uses the sonnet form to highlight his message about his beloved and their magnificent appearance. ... Shakespeare personifies the sun, calling it “the eye of heaven” with “his gold complexion dimmed” – the sun's complexion dimmed in comparison to the beloved's.
What Is "Sonnet 18" About?
William Shakespeare wrote and published his sonnets in 1609 consisting of a sequence of 154 sonnets. Scholars generally divide the sonnets into three groups according to their subject matter. The first two groups address a young man, often called the fair youth, while the third group addresses a woman called the "dark lady".
Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" Analysis
A sonnet is a poem consisting of fourteen lines. Shakespeare's sonnets have a particular rhyme scheme which has come to be known as the Shakespearean sonnet form. As he did in all of his sonnets, Shakespeare arranged "Sonnet 18" in three quatrains followed by a final rhyming couplet.
Sonnet 18: Further Exploration
This lesson gave you a great introduction to one of Shakespeare's most famous poems. Using what you've learned, it's time to do a deeper dive into this work.
What is the theme of Sonnet 18?
An important theme of the sonnet (as it is an important theme throughout much of the sequence) is the power of the speaker’s poem to defy time and last forever, carrying the beauty of the beloved down to future generations. The beloved’s “eternal summer” shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,” the speaker writes in the couplet, “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Why does the beloved's eternal summer not fade?
The beloved’s “eternal summer” shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,” the speaker writes in the couplet, “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”. Previous section Sonnet 1 Next section Sonnet 60.
What is the meaning of the last quatrain of the sonnet?
The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (“Thy eternal summer shall not fade...”) and never die.
What is the poem "Summer" about?
On the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved; summer tends to unpleasant extremes of windiness and heat, but the beloved is always mild and temperate. Summer is incidentally personified as the “eye of heaven” with its “gold complexion”; the imagery throughout is simple and unaffected, with the “darling buds of May” giving way to the “eternal summer”, which the speaker promises the beloved. The language, too, is comparatively unadorned for the sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or assonance, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause—almost every line ends with some punctuation, which effects a pause.
What mainly differentiates the young man from the summer's day?
In line 2 , the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summer’s day: he is “more lovely and more temperate.”. Summer’s days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by “rough winds”; in them, the sun (“the eye of heaven”) often shines “too hot,” or too dim.
What is the most famous sonnet in Shakespeare's series?
Commentary. This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare’s sonnets ; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare’s works, only lines such as “To be or not to be” and “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” are better-known.
What is the theme of the sonnets?
The theme of this sonnets, as of the other 153 addressed to W.H. is the permanence and supremacy of love. This is a recurring theme in other sonnets of Shakespeare. The poet gives an assurance of poetic immortality, love and friendship. So long as the written word remains and this poem is read in future,the beauty of his friend, and the poets’ love for his friend would remain alive in the heart, eyes and mind of the readers. It proves the power of written words, which would prove mighter than the law of nature.
Who is the sonnet addressed to?
The sonnet is addressed to W.H. This young man may have been Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton or Sir Philip Sidney’s nephew, William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke.1.4.6.
What does "nor shall you lose your beauty" mean?
Nor shall it (your eternal summer) lose its hold on that beauty which you so richly possess. ow’ st = ownest, possess. By metonymy we understand ‘nor shall you lose any of your beauty’.
How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets in all. The first 126 sonnets are addressed to his friend W.H., while the other 26 sonnets are conventional exercises inverse. The present sonnet is No. 66. The poet points out that every beautiful thing in nature is sure to decline either abruptly or in due course of nature’s time.
Why was May a summer month in Shakespeare's time?
May was a summer month in Shakespeare’s time, because the calendar in use lagged behind the true sidereal calendar by at least a fortnight darling buds of May – the beautiful, much loved buds of the early summer; favourite flowers.
What is a summer lease?
Legal terminology. The summer holds a lease on part of the year, but the lease is too short, and has an early termination (date).
What are the characteristics of Shakespeare?
Two characteristics of Shakespeare standout. The first is known as cantabolic. This refers to the work of someone whose ear is unerring. He is intent upon making his verse as melodious, in the simplest and most obvious sense of the word, as possible and there is scarcely a line, which is out of rhyme, rhythm or tune.
What does Shakespeare mean by "every fair from fair sometime declines"?
To make a conventional gloss, when he says ‘And every fair from fair sometime declines, / By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd’, he is probably meaning, with a melancholy sense of mortality, that every beautiful person loses their physical beauty in the end, sometimes by bad luck (the word ‘chance’ suggests a single episode, an accident or a sudden illness perhaps) or simply through the normal (‘untrimm'd’) passing of time.
Is Shakespeare's love poem about the beauty of the lover in question?
Yes, the poem is in no doubt about the beauty of the lover in question: with a knowing sense of the storms and downpours of the English summer, Shakespeare tells us his matchless loved one can hardly be compared to summer when we know how rarely summer matches its ideal. So far, so good.
What does the 18-word sonnet mean?
Shakespeare sonnet 18-word meaning helps you to understand Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis deeply and the sonnet 18 stanza wise paraphrase will ease your study on Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis. Summer is the most beautiful time in the world of Nature in a cold country such as England.
What is the meaning of the poem "He shall not compare his friend with the season of summer"?
Clarifying the matter he says that his friend is better-looking and more moderate than summer.
What does the phrase "eye of heaven" mean in the sonnet?
Sonnet 18-word meaning stanza 2 is given in the table for Shakespeare sonnet 18 line by line analysis. the sun. The phrase “eye of heaven” is metaphorical where eye and heaven are compared to the sun and the sky respectively . golden coloured appearance.
What does Shakespeare say about his friend?
Clarifying the matter he says that his friend is better-looking and more moderate than summer. Stormy winds blow in summer and it destroys the buds which would have turned to flowers in spring and would have beautified Nature. To add to it, the fact that summer has a brief span in comparison to the other seasons reinforces the impression that the sense of balance is missing in summer.
Why does a piece of literature achieve eternity?
A piece of literature achieves eternity because it is read years after years of its production. The poem which the poet has written about his friend will be read by human beings up to Doomsday. Actually, on this day the world will be destroyed and nobody will exist thereafter. Thus the poem written by the poet will provide immortality to his friend.
Why does the sun lose its beauty?
At times the sun shines with great heat. Sometimes the golden coloured appearance of the sun becomes dull as it becomes covered with dark clouds. This is an instance of the loss of beauty on the part of the sun. Indeed, all beautiful objects lose their beauty at some point of time or the other. This loss sometimes occurs in the natural process of flux according to which any living creature goes through the steps of birth, growth, decay and death. In other cases, it happens in accidental occurrences as happens in the case of summer.
What is Shakespeare's first poem?
Among Shakespeare’s earliest writings one can refer to “Venus and Adonis” (1593) and “The Rape of Lucrece” (1594) which are two long narrative poems. In 1599 comes out a collection of his verse called “The Passionate Pilgrim”. In 1609 a collection of his sonnets was printed by Thomas Thorpe as “Sonnets”.
