Sonnet 18 Essay, Research Paper

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.