Cia Soto

APLIT

Priest

2 November 2016

Sonnet Imagery

Between the two sonnets of “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and “My

mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare utilizes comparing

and contrasting metaphors, very distinct tones, yet both wield similar intention in which the

narrators proclaim their love for their mistress.

Both of Shakespeare’s sonnets compromise of metaphors of summertime to compare and

contrast their lover’s features. In his first sonnet, Shakespeare draws focus to “the darling buds of

May,... [that] rough winds do shake…” The buds resemble the concept of beauty that can easily

be dismissed by life’s daily troubles, or in this line, it’s rough winds. The sun of summertime is

noted that “his gold complexions [dims]” and that “every fair from fair sometime declines” to

acknowledge that other’s beauty do eventually fade and deteriorate, however, the narrator claims

that his lover’s “eternal summer shall not fade”. A daring claim illustrating his lover will always

stay beautiful and his love will last forever. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” utterly

dismisses the over glorification, acknowledging that “coral is far more red than her lips’ red…”

or that her hair resembled that of “black wires [growing] on her head”. Realistically, this narrator

dismisses the procured image of a beautiful woman, as he “[thinks his] love as rare, as any she

belied with false compare”. Despite his mistress not aligning with such unrealistic expectations,

he still claims to love her for her uniqueness, instead of the narrator of “Shall I compare thee to a

summer’s day?” who professed his love through imagery and reassurance through metaphors.