Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sonnet 18:
By William Shakespeare
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.
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
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 onto 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 Metaphor Parallel structure personification Balanced sentences Use of comparatives
COMPARISON
If you were to write about this poem in your exam, which poems would make interesting comparisons for it? Why?
SONNET PARODY
Parody = a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way. IOt 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...