what is sonnet 18 is all about.can anybody interprate it?

Question

SONNET 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Answer 1

Most of Shakespeare's sonnets are about love, and this one is no exception. He starts out by stating the premise of the poem - comparing his love to a summer's day. He calls her more beautiful and milder, and says that while rough winds (moods) shake the spring, and summer is too short, and the sun too bright and too often blocked out by storms, her eternal summer (beauty) won't fade, and death won't take it so long as he lives.

Answer 2

Shakespeare was in love when he wrote this. This sonnet is discussing the beauty of his love, and shows how that beauty can be immortalized through poetry.


(Interpretation from site linked below)
The first line, a question, proposes a comparison between Shakespeare's beloved and a summer season. Summer is chosen because it is lovely and pleasant.

In the second line the comparison is restricted: in outward appearance and character the beloved person is more beautiful and less extreme than summer. The reasons for the restriction are given in the next four lines which describe the less pleasant aspects of summer.

In the seventh and eighth lines Shakespeare complains that every beauty will become less one day.

The ninth line takes up the comparison with summer again: summer has by now become the summer of life. The comparison turns into a contrast by referring back to the seventh.

The poet's assurance becomes even firmer in lines eleven and twelve, which contain a promise that death will be conquered. 'Eternal lines' refers to lines of poetry but also suggest lines of shape. It points forward to the triumphant couplet which explains and summarizes the theme: poetry is immortal and makes beauty immortal.

Answer 3

Sonnet 18... Remember that Shakespeare made or wanted to make his LOVE immortal by use of his poems... thus

The first line, a question, proposes a comparison between Shakespeare's beloved and a summer season. Summer is chosen because it is lovely and pleasant. In the second line the comparison is restricted: in outward appearance and character the beloved person is more beautiful and less extreme than summer. The reasons for the restriction are given in the next four lines which describe the less pleasant aspects of summer. In the seventh and eighth lines Shakespeare complains that every beauty will become less one day. The ninth line takes up the comparison with summer again: summer has by now become the summer of life. The comparison turns into a contrast by referring back to the seventh. The poet's assurance becomes even firmer in lines eleven and twelve, which contain a promise that death will be conquered. 'Eternal lines' refers to lines of poetry but also suggest lines of shape. It points forward to the triumphant couplet which explains and summarizes the theme: poetry is immortal and makes beauty immortal.

Answer 4

What Is Sonnet 18

Answer 5

I think that it is about compareing a lover to differant seasons. I think that the author thinks their love is most closely tied to summer. The first line sums up most of the sonnet. Good Luck on this!

Answer 6

Try this website. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18detail.html
But as the person before me wrote, you really need to give your interpretation. Just take each line at a time. It will come to you.

Answer 7

i believe your teacher wants your opinion on this not mine just wright down what the sonnet means to u personally u will do ok

Answer 8

It takes eight seconds for the Yahoo Answers questions to open for me to be able to click on the [add your answer] button. thus, is my laptop slow?

Answer 9

Never thought about that too much