Romeo and Juliet: Please help!?

Question

What does this sonnet mean? I have to write a 2 page report on this sonnet b tomorrow. Yeah she only gave us one day. I have no clue what this means so please help me.


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 ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Answer 1

You really shouldn't ask people to do your homework for you, there are plenty of guides online for all of romeo and juliet..I suggest getting some cliff notes..and it will seriously help you out...that's what i did in middle school, but by no means use only the cliff notes..read it first, then go through the cliff notes..and re-read it after and it'll start making a lot of sense..there are other cliff-note-like websites online..but its hard to say how reliable they are. good luck!

My Take:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? "
- I'm comparing you to a day in summer.
"Thou art more lovely and more temperate."
- You're more lovely and warmer.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
- summer has rough winds and is fragile, and short.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
- everything in summer sometime dies..my take..not so good.
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
- as long as I live, i give my life to you..that was my quick take..i'm not real good at Romeo and Juliet..hence use the cliff notes..but most things are easily told just by reading through..have you tried it?

Answer 2

This is comparing the eternity of love to the ephemera of the seasons. "And summer's lease hath all too short a date" ..."But thy eternal summer shall not fade"

There's your start, good luck on getting two pages out of it. Try writing big.

Answer 3

he is saying that she is absolutly the most beautiful thing on the planet, and that some people who are beautiful have their beauty fade with time, he will always think she is beautiful, no matter what happens to her.

Answer 4

http://www.monologuearchive.com/s/shakespeare_william.html

An analysis of the play by Shakespeare

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/playanalysis/romeoandjuliet.html

http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/romeoandjuliet001.html

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xRomeoJul.html#Characters

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/romeojl11.asp


Good luck.