Sonnet 18:

Shall I compare thee

to a Summers Day?

By William Shakespeare
The Ultimate Love poem?
 SONNET
Poetry form that began in 13th
C. Means little song (Italian
sonnetto)
Shakespeare wrote 154
sonnets!
Sonnet 18 is his most famous

Shakespearean sonnets:
14 lines
Formed of 12 lines of ABAB/
CDCD/ EFEF ends with a
rhyming couplet GG
iambic pentameter
 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.
 Shakespeares BELOVED
FAIR YOUTH
Sonnets 1-126 - to an unnamed young man, Mr
W.H. Some think it was a nobleman, the Earl of
Southampton (his patron) but we dont know.
Platonic love (? Or not?)
The love I dedicate to
your lordship is without
end ... What I have
done is yours; what I
have to do is yours;
being part in all I have,
devoted yours."

LEFT: Shakespeare
RIGHT: Henry
Wriothesley, Earl of
Southampton.
 translate it into
plain English

Start like this

Shall I compare you

to a summer's day?
You are more lovely
and more constant
Rough winds shake
the pretty flower
buds in May
 Sonnet in plain
ENGLISH

At times the sun is too hot,

Or often goes behind the clouds;
And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty
By chance or by nature's planned out course.
But your youthful beauty shall not fade,
Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;
Nor will death claim you for his own,
Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.
So long as there are people on this earth,
So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.
 Another plain
English version
Who says you're like one of the dog days?
You're nicer. And better.
Even in May, the weather can be gray,
And a summer sub-let doesn't last forever.
Sometimes the sun's too hot;
Sometimes it is not.
Who can stay young forever?
People break their necks or just drop dead!
But you? Never!
If there's just one condensed reader left
Who can figure out the abridged alphabet,
After you're dead and gone,
In this poem you'll live on!
(Howard Moss)
 COPY / COMPLETE
& CHOOSE THE CORRECT
ANSWER
COMMENTARY
The poet believes his beloved is as lovely as /
lovelier than a Summers day. This is because
sometimes summer is [select all those that apply!]
changeable/full of flowers/windy/cloudy/rainy
/wet/hot /too hot/ too short. By line 9 he is
referring to his friend as Death/Eternal Summer,
which shows he sees him as the standard of
beautiful things. He goes on to say that, unlike
the season of summer, his beloveds beauty will
fade/die/never fade because he will live on in
this poem.
 Language features

Can you find examples

of the following?

Conceit personification

Metaphor Balanced sentences

Parallel structure Use of comparatives

 Language features

Can you find examples

of the following?

Conceit personification

Metaphor Balanced sentences

Parallel structure Use of comparatives

 SONNET PARODY

Parody = a composition that imitates

somebody's style in a humorous way. It is
humorous or satirical mimicry.

In pairs, have a go at filling in the gaps to

create a parody of Shakespeares Sonnet 18.
*Remember to keep the iambic pentameter
(5 feet per line or 10 syllables per line)
and the rhyme scheme intact!
 Sonnet parody

Shall I compare thee to a ____________________?

Thou art more ______and ______ ___________.
Rough winds do __________________ __ I'd say,
Which looks ___________ than
______________________________.
Sometime thy ___________eye________into mine
Through ____________________needs be trimm'd,
And ne'er a ________had such a ________as thine,
As though in __________________ thou hast
swimm'd.
 Sonnet parody

Thy ____________ image shall not fade;

This my ______________mind and __________
doth know.
O, I should love to _____________ thee ________
___________;
And with that ____________ I hope that thou
wouldst _______.
So long as_______ can _____________, _____ eyes
can __________,
And_______ can ____________, _______ ________
______ ______ thee...
 Anthony Baldwins
sonnet parody
Shall I compare thee to a bale of hay?
Thou art more dusty and far less neat.
Rough winds do toss thy mop about, I'd say,
Which looks far worse than hay a horse would eat.
Sometime thy squinty eye looks into mine
Through stringy, greasy hair that needs be trimm'd,
And ne'er a horse had such a stench as thine,
As though in stagnant sewers thou hast swimm'd.
Thy disgusting image shall not fade;
This my tortured mind and soul doth know.
O, I should love to hit thee with a spade;
And with that blow I hope that thou wouldst go.
So long as I can breathe, my eyes can see,
And I can run, I'll stay away from thee...