Shakespeare
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day
The explication of Shakespeare's sonnet, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" has been done ad nauseum. A quick web search will pull up a million websites dedicated to Shakespearean sonnets, and each of these domains will have its own, slightly different interpretation and analysis of the oft-cited and much praised Sonnet 18. But the reality is the poem says what it says and while some will debate the finer points of the poem (the language, the historical relevance, the imagery, the themes, the dangling modifiers, etc.), the overall meaning is straightforward and easy to apprehend, especially when compared to some of the more unintelligible Shakespearean sonnets (number 108 comes to mind). So, what is the overall meaning of the poem? Allow me to answer that question by doing another, painstakingly banal, explication of "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day.
The first line of the sonnet is a question to both the reader and the muse of the poem. One can suggest that there's a seductive quality to it as it offers intrigue and suspense about the prospect of an exciting metaphorical compliment. "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?" Shall I compare you (the subject...
Shakespeare's Sonnets 18, 73, 97 Poets have often looked to nature for inspiration and as a vehicle for self-expression. Throughout his lifetime, William Shakespeare is known to have written 154 sonnets, which cover various topics such as love, mortality, and the passage of time. Of these sonnets, sonnet numbers 18, 73, and 97 incorporate seasonal symbols that allow Shakespeare to express his love, the passage of time and its effect on
" Again, the poet employs repetition (of the word "fair") to emphasize his point. Moreover, "chance" and "changing" provide some alliteration, which is otherwise rare in this particular Shakespeare sonnet. Line nine begins with the word "But," to herald a shift in tone: the speaker went from listing summer's deficiencies to pointing out the particular qualities of his lover that make her superior. The speaker focuses almost exclusively on her "eternal
The ironic twist is the play of what is to be expected to be said and what is actually said (or, going back to the argument, what is expected from love and what actually occurs): It begins: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; / Coral is far more red than her lips' red" From here the sonnet continues with a much less pleasing list of the qualities about
Shakespeare and Romantic Love Clearly one of the most influential writers in the English language that has survived and prospered in contemporary times is William Shakespeare. Despite some of the controversy of whether he actual wrote what is attributed to him, or the other theories of the origination of his writing, no one can deny that he holds a place in literature that few, if any, have attained. The classic stories
Though the reader understands that this is impossible as the beauty of youth cannot last forever, Shakespeare makes a point to remedy this. The speaker in the poem notes that his love's timelessness will be ensured through his actions of writing about her. No matter what happens to either of them through the course of their own lives, the beauty of the woman being written about and love that
Jewel Stairs' Grievance: Li PO / Ezra Pound We can assume from the poet's heritage that the speaker is an Asian woman. However, there are further contextual cues that aid in the understanding of "The Jewel Stairs' Grievance." For one, the opening line refers to "jeweled steps," which indicates a place of some wealth or importance. There is sexual innuendo throughout the poem: the dew, the gauze stockings, and the
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