Sonnet 18, ShallI Compare Thee to A Summer’s Day?

ahead of him. The poem shows that the writer wants to stop and watch the woods fill up

with snow even though he knows it is a little strange to be doing that on the darkest night

of the year. He knows the woods are not his land and he is probably not meant to there.

He says thinks he knows the owner but will be ok because he can’t be seen as the owner

lives away in the village. He describes the woods as lovely dark and deep, and I think he

wants to stay. He sounds sorry that he cannot stay because he has promises to keep and

still a long journey to go.

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

1. Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 is a whole metaphor of the writer trying to find the best way to

describe the person he is writing about. He tires to compare them to a summer’s day but

then gives reasons why that is not a good description. Another metaphor is found in line 9

when he uses “eternal summer” as a metaphor for the beauty of the person he is writing

to. He uses personification in line 4 when he describes, “summer’s lease” trying to show

that summer does not have to last forever. In line 11 it says “Nor death brag thou

wander’st in his shade” which is personification which shows the sun bragging. In line 6

it describes the sun with a “gold complexion”, giving the sun has a face. There are also

some examples of alliteration. In line 5 with “too hot the eye of heaven”, (h), line 8 “by

chance or nature’s changing course”, (“c”), line 9 “eternal summer shall not fade” (s) and

the last line” so long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (l). The sonnet is written in a

ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG pattern.