Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare 1564 (Stratford-upon-Avon) – 1616 (Stratford-upon-Avon)



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 dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest 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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

36 sec read
1,305

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACDEDAFGFGHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 620
Words 116
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". more…

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2 Comments
  • caden_s
    hello my name a monke
    LikeReply2 years ago
  • isaacb.00156
    This is a gorgeous declaration of memory, if anyone can draw any meaning from it I would love to be enlighted unto it's context!
    LikeReply2 years ago
    • adubois
      The above sonnet is addressed to a man, comparing him in all his beauty to that of the perfect summer's day. It is giving praise to the beloved, and in one instance, for example, they are compared to a summer's day as also being mild and temperate, just like those supposed days. 
      LikeReply2 years ago
    • isaacb.00156
      See, I would take that a step further and say that it is addressed to Hamnet, as he is on his deathbed, beautiful, young, yet fading.
      LikeReply2 years ago

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"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 18)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/41390/shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summer's-day?-(sonnet-18)>.

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Who wrote "Ode to the West Wind" that inspired a political and moral change?
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