Essay about William Shakespeares Sonnet 18 - 924 Words

Keeping love alive is not easy. One knows that life eventually comes to an end, but does love? Time passes and days must end. It is in Sonnet 18, by Shakespeare, that we see a challenge to the idea that love is finite. Shakespeare shows us how some love is eternal and will live on forever in comparison to a beautiful summers day. Shakespeare has a way of keeping love alive in Sonnet 18, and he uses a variety of techniques to demonstrate how love is more brilliant and everlasting than a summers day. The first technique Shakespeare uses to demonstrate everlasting love is to ask the question Shall I compare thee to a summers day? (1) This leads the reader to consider other questions. Is love as bright and beautiful as a summers†¦show more content†¦Love lasts longer and Shakespeare again uses imagery to demonstrate this in line four: And summers lease hath all too short a date. The speaker believes that the love he feels is not leased for a limited time. Shakespeare emphasizes with imagery that the speakers love is eternal: But thy eternal summer shall not fade. This line of the sonnet also indicates the turn. It gives a similarity towards nature and love. Though with the summer only occupying a short term of time this reinforces that love is even more eternal and everlasting. During the summer the sun shines hot above us all. Shakespeare uses the technique of a metaphor in line five and six: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, / And often is his gold complexion dimmed. This attributing of human qualities to nature shows Shakespeares use of metaphors as a form of personification. It creates the image that everything in the summers season eventually loses its beauty and begins to decay. As glorious as this sun kissed glow may feel and as long as we wish to be blessed, the clouds in the sky move over the sun, shading everything under it. This shade tends to hide the summers beauty. The speaker believes that the beauty of the person he admires is superior the shaded summer day. All the fairness of the summer becomes dark and dreary, similar to what becomes of the end of summer. It is only a season that changes with beauty that comes and goes with time. LoveShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser771 Words   |  4 Pagesworks of William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser it is clear that some similarities are apparent, however the two poets encompass different writing styles, as well as different topics that relate to each other in their own unique ways. In Shakespeare’s â€Å"Sonnet 18† and Spenser’s â€Å"Sonnet 75†, both poets speak of love in terms of feelings and actions by using different expressive views, allowing the similar topics to contain clear distinctions. Although Edmund Spenser’s â€Å"Sonnet 75† and William Shakespeare’sRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Sonnet 18 And 130900 Words   |  4 Pages(Line 1). 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