Shakespeare sonnet analysis

Sonnet (18): Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer day

By William Shakespeare

1.)  Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
2.)  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
3.)  Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
4.)  And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
5.)  But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
6.)  So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

If you like to read about love poems, then Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day by William Shakespeare would be good for you. It is written in a way that a man tells a woman how much he loves her beauty. Each thought in the sonnet is a different description. For example, Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art lovelier and more temperate means the person is more lovely and the actions they do is more temperate compared to a nice summer day.

The first thought "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate" is stating that you are lovelier and more outgoing than a summer day. A summer day is thought to be full of fun and joy and a time to relax in the nice warm sun. So by saying thou art more temperate and lovely when compared to a summer's day is like saying that the person is even more of a joy and more fun to be around.

The second thought "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all to short a date" is saying that winds shake the beloved buds of May, and summer is way too short. This means that summer comes and goes all too fast and before you know it, winter and spring is here when the winds are shaking the new buds of may. Just like summer being too short, it could be referring to how short ones love can be for another saying that their love for the person can come and go as fast and instantly as it may seem that summer goes.

The third thought "Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often his gold complexion dimmed" means that sometimes the eye of heaven, or the sun may shine too bright. And often its “gold complexion”, or the light it gives off, may be shaded or dimmed by the rolling clouds over head. This is relating to ones looks and complexion being beautiful and glowing like heavens shining sunlight, and then it may be dimmed or become uglier as something happens to the person that covers up the beautiful looks, just as the clouds do to the suns bright light.

The fourth thought in the sonnet "And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed" means that everything or everyone who is beautiful will get uglier over the course of time whether it be from randomness, or from age. This means that a woman can get uglier from randomness like something may happen to her from an accident. Or, the woman can get uglier from time and age, meaning with time always going on forever she is always aging. When people age, they may not always be beautiful so when it says "nature's changing course untrimmed" it means nature is changing her through time and her becoming ugly is a naturally occurring event.

The fifth thought "But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st" means that the persons youth or young person in them will not go away, nor will they lose the beauty they have, nor will death claim you as his, because she will forever be in his heart. This is the love part of the sonnet because it is saying no matter how ugly or old, the person will always love the woman and see her as young and beautiful. It is also saying he will not let death claim her as his own because he will forever be there with her and she will forever be in his heart.

The sixth thought saying "So long as men can breath, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee" meaning so long as men are alive on this earth and can see, and so long as his love continues on like this, the love he has for her will give life to her forever. This means that as long as he loves her forever, it will give her spirit life even after she dies because she will always be thought of and will forever remain with him in his mind and thoughts because that is just how much his love for her has grown.

Citations:

-all definitions looked up on www.oed.com
-sonnet from http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/18