Sonnet 18
A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a carefully patterned rhyme scheme. Few poets have ever truly mastered the art of writing a sonnet. Sonnets are very clear, short, focused projections of a major theme of life. It is an incredibly difficult task to create a masterpiece with such a rigid structure to follow. Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard brought the sonnet form into English poetry in the sixteenth century. They introduced some modifications into the Petrarchan form, choosing to use three quatrains and a couplet, instead of the traditional octet and sestet. The two also employed a different, but still tightly controlled rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. This form later became known as the Shakespearean sonnet, named after its greatest practitioner. William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest author that ever lived, wrote a collection of 154 sonnets that are truly a work of pure brilliance. Shakespeare uses both Petrarchan and Shakespearean structure in his sonnets. Sonnet 18, one of the most famous of Shakespeare's collection, is a masterpiece that truly shows Shakespeare's incredible ability as a writer.The structure of the Shakespearean sonnet, its rhyme pattern, and meter are all faithfully illus
The speaker is showing that everything becomes less beautiful when left up to chance and time. The sonnet is concluded with the couplet," So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. By stating that his mistress is "more lovely and more temperate" than a summer's day, he not only is praising his love, but cuts through the normal tradition to show that humanity and nature can never truly be compared accurately. The second quatrain goes further with conceit showing the splendor of summer is affected by the intensity of the sunlight, and, as the seasons change, summer becomes less beautiful. The speaker shows that there has been some loss of charm in his lover second line by saying "thou art more lovely and more temperate," implying that the beauty will not last forever. The rhyme scheme is strict, following the consistent abab cdcd efef gg pattern. Instead of objectifying his lover through tired comparisons, he declares that his love is too beautiful and pleasant to be compared to even the most beautiful season of the year. The use of the word temperate further suggests the fact that their bond they share has cooled. Most writers consider nature to be eternal while human life is transitory. In the first two quatrains, Shakespeare masterfully employs a Petrarchan conceit to immortalize his beloved. The male speaker initiates the extended metaphor in the first line of the sonnet by posing the rhetorical question, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Although the speaker carefully inserts lovely into the second line, it has already been made apparent to the reader that the love that this poem is addressed is approaching the end of youth. The poem moves even further into the future in the fourth line by noting the duration of "summer's lease" will expire, showing the coming of old age. Despite the speakers assurances that he still finds his lover to be physically attractive, the figurative language which he employs here expresses physical corrosion in graphic terms, keeping the reader's mind fixed on the process of physical deterioration and decay. trated in this work, as three successive quatrains of iambic pentameter verse leading lyrically to a concluding rhymed couplet and a high note.
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