Sonnet 54

Elegant conceit to a
rose to create an
image of beauty and
youth.

Calming diction in
the first quatrain
provides a soothing
atmosphere for
readers compared to
the dramatic diction
in the second

(a)O how much more doth beauty beauteous seem,

(b)By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
(a)The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
(b)For that sweet odour which doth in it live.
(c)The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
(d)As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
(c)Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly

This tragic
personification
in the last lines
of the second
quatrain
creates an
image that
represents
outer beauty
hanging off the
nasty thorns of

Beauty seems even

sweeter because of
how truthful the
ornament is.

(d)When summer's breath their masked buds discloses:

(e)But, for their virtue only is their show,
(f)They live unwoo'd and unrespected fade,
(e)Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
(f)Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:
(g) And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
(g)When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth.
Concluding the poem with a couplet,
the poet stresses how beauty fades
with time, but the truth doesnt. By
stating this claim he reminds the
reader that beauty is within truth and
kindness.

This concrete simile

represents beauty
through the naked
eye may look
festered, but is
equivalent to the
inner beauty of the
bloom.

In Sonnet 54, a beauty so deep and pure could only be

discovered through oneself: honesty and truth is the only way one
could achieve beauty that never dies out. William Shakespeares use of
over exaggerated imagery and understanding of beauty in comparison
to a rose reveals the compassion the poet has toward inner beauty. The
powerful context in the lines- youth, beauteous, vade, death,
truth, and the simile the canker blooms have full as deep a dye as
the perfumed tincture of the roses- resembles such passion in beauty
and those few words linger in our brains. These few forceful words
resemble that the prettiest roses could smell the worst and the ugliest
smell the best, referring to mortal beauty doesnt compare to ones
personal emotional beauty. The poet emphasis the idea of beauty
fading by introducing a thought of death, as one grows older they also
get less attractive to the eye. Unfortunately, Shakespeare and his
mistress are in times hands, as time goes by their beauty fades. By as
time flies by the poet, Shakespeare, reveals the truth within beauty
which is that it comes from the inside. Unlike the moral of the poem
the beauty in Shakespeares words never fade, the readers are left with
the idea of beauty making the words linger in our minds so that when
we might die out our beauty wont. Shakespeares words are left at the
tips of tongues and remain in our hearts and minds. The poets words
echo to all humanity making people thrive in order to achieve long
lasting beauty.

Petals of Beauty
How much beauty does one unmask and reveal?
Only truth lies in the cold blossoms of
roses. Only lovely sweet scents could heal
sores that sit on the petals like a dove.
The unmasking of a rose with colors
Deep as blood can only show the lovely,
beauteous truth by which is surely bestowed,
Petals of beauty, ruined by ugly
And monstrous scents that fill roses blooms.
As the roses sink slowly, weakening;
Ones with no beauty remain smelling as
Sweet as those with no beauty for seeking.
Beauty is what life consists of, it seems,
But as one grows none will be left to redeem.