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 illustrated in this work, as three successive quatrains of iambic pentameter verse leading lyrically to a concluding rhymed couplet and a high note. The rhyme scheme is strict, following the consistent abab cdcd efef gg pattern. The ironic tone of this poem suggests a dramatic occasion in which the speaker attempts to quiet his lovers concerns about the negative impact of time and age on beauty.
             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 int...