Analysis of Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

of the of the of Analysis of ‘Sonnet 18’ by William Shakespeare ‘Sonnet 18’ by William Shakespeare could be analyzed from different perspectives, but its form is one of the critical elements that give the poem the structure of a narrative with a distinct beginning, development of ideas, and a proper conclusion. Therefore, the form of Sonnet 18 is critical to its meaning, as it enables the poet to develop his ideas from one quarto to the other, and finally conclude in the couplet. This form of Shakespearean sonnet or English sonnet is a derivation of the traditional Italian sonnets. Most English sonnets are divided into lines of roughly ten syllables with five stresses- a measure or meter known as pentameter... A line of poetry that repeatedly uses an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable is called an iambic line. (Harrison, 68) The basic form of traditional Italian sonnets was different from the English or Shakespearean sonnet. “The Italian sonnet has two parts: an eight-line stanza called an octave and a six-line stanza called a sestet.” (Elizabeth and Hamilton, 263) However, its British originators introduced other elements related to human lives as well, and this required the traditional form of the sonnet to evolve accordingly. Consequently, the form of the sonnet changed to interweave multiple themes, for instance, in Sonnet 18, the principal themes are: beauty, life, death and eternity; while each theme is dealt in distinct quartos in a different way. This Sonnet like other Shakespearean sonnets has 14 lines in iambic pentameter, which are divided into three quatrains, followed by a couplet. The different parts of Sonnet 18 cater to different stages of the development and transition of thought or the central idea of the poem. In the first quarto of Sonnet 18, the poet introduces an object of comparison ‘summer’s day’ with his beloved’s beauty and analyzes different perspectives of this comparison. The use of comparatives like ‘more lovely and more temperate’ (2) and superlatives like ‘too short’ (4) enhance the comparison between the beauty of the poet’s beloved and the summer’s day. Hence, a summer’s day acts as a stimulant for the poet that becomes so inspired by its beauty that he deems it fit to be compared with his beloved’s beauty. However, once he begins to compare their beauties, he realizes that his beloved exalts in so many ways. The idea continues to develop in the second quarto where the emphasis switches from beauty to glory of a summer’s day. According to the poet, some days might be brighter than others, but the glory of the poet’s beloved is consistent. The transition from the initial theme of beauty gradually develops into consistent glory; while the transition in the thought process of the poet is really subtle. This subtlety is an important feature of the form of Shakespearean sonnets. The poet personifies the Sun as the ‘eye of heaven’ (5); and refers to its brightness as ‘his gold complexion’ (6). Personification of the sun helps in drawing the parallels between an innate object like the sun itself or a summer’s day. The introduction of celestial objects like ‘heaven’ and ‘sun’ point to the fact that the pet perceives his beloved’s glory to be comparable with them. In fact, he thinks that his beloved is better off than anything else as: “every fair from fair sometimes declines” (7) but his beloved remains unaffected “By chance or natures changing course untrimmd” (8). In the third quarto, the word summer takes on a metaphoric meaning when the poet says: ‘But thy eternal Summer shall not fade’ (9). Summer in its metaphoric meanings consists of all its attributes like beauty and glory; while ‘eternal summer’ is a hyperbole. The meanings of eternal summer go beyond the description of the beauty and glory of the poet’s beloved. Thus the poet’s comparison gradually developed from normal comparatives and superlatives to metaphors and similes, and eventually to hyperbole- when the beauty of the poet’s beloved goes beyond the limits of space and time and adopts other-worldly nature. The rhyming couplet not only sums up the main ideas of beauty, life, death and eternity in the poem but also provides an ending that restate the claim of the poet that the beauty of his beloved shall last till eternity: “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,/ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (13-14). The first line of the rhyming couplet is a simile with the help of which the poet is trying to define some sense of time; while the last line confirms to the previous ideas presented in the poem that as long as the time shall tick on, his beloved shall gain life from it. The rhyming couplet is an essential part of the form of Shakespearean sonnet, as it gives a glimpse of the preceding ideas developed in the sonnet and winds up the ideas of the poet in a beautiful manner. The rhyme scheme, repetition of words, personification and metaphors are also important elements of the form of this sonnet. The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Repetition does not only give rhythm but also emphasized upon the central idea(s) of the poem. For instance, in all three quartos of this poem, the word ‘summer’ has been repeatedly used to emphasize the comparison of the poet’s beloved to the different qualities of summer. “In fact simple repetition- itself a type of rhyme- can generate powerful rhythms.” (Morley and Neilson, 75). Metaphors such as summer, eye of heaven, gold complexion, and eternal lines, help in relating the characteristics of the beloved with nature. The poet makes the beauty of summer comparable with that of his beloved, but then he refutes this idea and claims that his beloved is more beautiful more temperate upon whom the harshness of time doesn’t affect. Moreover, he says, “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” (9). Summer has been used in two senses in this sonnet. In the first two quartos, summer has a literal meaning; but it assumes a metaphoric meaning in the third quarto. “Metaphor is a matter of words, not thought. Metaphor occurs when a word is applied to not to what it normally designates, but to something else.” (Lakoff and Johnson, 123) ‘Sonnet 18’ is not only a love poem but it deals with other issues that are inadvertently related to love, like beauty, life, death, and eternity. This form of sonnet is perfect for dealing with all these issues with its well defined quartos and couplet. Moreover, the development and transition of thought is allowed by the flexible structure of English sonnet so that the central theme culminates in the rhyming couplet. Work Cited Elizabeth, Mary, Mary Podhaizer and Laurie Hamilton. Painless Poetry. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 2001. Print. Harrison, C. An Introduction to the Humanities - Form and Reading - Block 1. Milton-Keynes, UK: The Open University, 2006. Print. Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Print. Morley, David and Philip Neilson. The Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print. Read More