William Shakespeare: The Use of Nature Imagery in Two Sonnets

             Among the many early modern poets, William Shakespeare stands as one of the most highly celebrated. The impact of his poetry has extended across many nationalities and ethnicities influencing many of today's most brilliant writers. The main reason for Shakespeare's huge success is his boundless wit with the use of description that allows him to present traditional ideas in creative ways. I plan to compare and contrast Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 with his Sonnet 130, focusing on his use of nature imagery and word choice to convey his idea of beauty to the minds of the reader.
             In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare describes the beauty of a woman very close to him. He does this mainly by the use of nature imagery. Throughout the poem, we see Shakespeare use certain elements of nature to compare with his lover. The idea he presents is that no part of nature can do justice to her beauty. The elements he uses are ones that the majority of people consider to be very pleasing or enjoyable. Some of these are "a summer's day," "darling buds of May," and "eternal summer." Other nature elements used such as "Rough winds," and "death," are elements that have dark or negative connotations. These conflicting images are intertwined together so that they work together to paint an extremely colorful picture in the mind of the reader. He then uses the method of an understatement to say that these elements are no comparisons to his lover's beauty.
             On the other hand, Shakespeare uses a completely different method in the presentation of Sonnet 130. In this sonnet, he also uses images of nature to paint pictures in the mind of the reader. However, in this sonnet, he portrays these images and goes on to say that his lover is not nearly as beautiful as any of these things. He further states that anyone who compares their mistress to these elements and says that she is more beautiful is overexaggerating. He concludes that others misrepresent their lovers ...

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William Shakespeare: The Use of Nature Imagery in Two Sonnets. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:24, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/73114.html