Seredrica, Felix Nathaniel C.

3EDENG6A

SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER’S DAY?

William Shakespeare

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.

FORMALISM QUESTIONS

1. Does this work follow a traditional form, such as the Petrarchan sonnet or does it chart its own
development?

- This is a Shakespearean sonnet, meaning it has 14 lines written in iambic pentameter and that

follow a regular rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme can be divided into three quatrains followed
by a couplet.

2. How are the events of the plot recounted – for example, in sequential fashion or as a flashback?

- The poem starts with the speaker comparing the entity to a summer. He quickly takes back this
comparison for the speaker sees the entity better than the summer itself. As the poem
proceeds, the speaker begins to discuss that soon death will come, but as long as men have eyes
to see, the beauty of the entity will live on.

3. How does the work’s organization affect its meaning?

- The speaker initially tries to find an appropriate metaphor to suit the entity’s beauty, but soon
realized that none will work because of the inevitable death. This organization makes the sonnet
more sensible.
4. Does the denouement in the plot surprise or satisfy you?
- Yes. I find it sweet when you are trying to say that someone’s beauty can overcome death as
long as the people have eyes to see. It’s basically saying that your beauty is timeless, reminds
me of someone actually.

5. Does the denouement provide closure to the narrative or leave it open?

- Yes. It was somehow able to close the narrative. I think the speaker is trying to give contrast to
death, which is the end of all living things. It appears to me that, though death will be the end of
everyone, the beauty of the entity will live on forever.

6. What recurrences of words, images, and sounds do you notice?

- The piece contains a number of instances of alliteration. These plays of sound bind together
Shakespeare's lines: for example, the repeated sh sound in "shall" "shade" in line 11.
Shakespeare's alliterations often reinforce the content of the poem. For example, in line 8 the
connected sounds of "chance” and "changing" underscore the impermanence of the natural
world. And in line 14, "lives" and "life" underline the connection between the eternal life of the
poem and the young man's eternal life.

7. Do the recurrences make a pattern, or do they appear randomly?

- These recurrences make a pattern. In fact, it follows the traditional rhyme scheme of
Shakespearean sonnet. ABABCDCDEFEFGG

8. Where do images foreshadow later events?

I don’t think foreshadowing happened in this piece.

9. How does the narrator’s point of view shape the meaning?

- Going against death is a smart way to say that something is so beauty. For me it’s like, “You’re
so beautiful even death falls in love with you”.

10. What progression of nature are used to suggest meaning – for example, sunrise/sunset,
spring/water?
- Overall, the summer was the most dominant season in the narrative. However, the speaker
refuses to use summer to compare the entity’s beauty, for summer will soon end. So he instead
said that the beauty of the entity is compared to an eternal summer.
MEETING AT NIGHT
Robert Browning

The grey sea and the long black land;

And the yellow half-moon large and low;

And the startled little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,

As I gain the cove with pushing prow,

And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;

Three fields to cross till a farm appears;

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch

And blue spurt of a lighted match,

And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and fears,

Than the two hearts beating each to each!

FORMALISM QUESTIONS:

1. Does this work follow a traditional form, such as the Petrarchan sonnet or does it chart its own
development?

- "Meeting at Night" has tightly-knit form. It is comprised of two stanzas, both of which

are sestets (made up of six lines). Each stanza is also numbered, "I" and "II," respectively.

2. How are the events of the plot recounted – for example, in sequential fashion or as a flashback?

- The first thing to notice about the form, even before reading the poem, is the symmetry created
on the page. It's clear that this is a poem of two halves. This is significant because what's
described is essentially a story of two halves. Each lover, of course, represents one half of the
meeting. The two sections, in their way, represent both the initial separateness of the lovers
(because the stanzas are divided), but also the lovers' coming-together (because the stanzas are
part of one  poem).
3. How does the work’s organization affect its meaning?

- The first stanza deals with the first section of the speaker’s journey. The second stanza shows
the actual meeting between the lovers. The poem eventually ends with an exclamation mark,
representing the lovers' passionate embrace.

4. Does the denouement in the plot surprise or satisfy you?

- I find it satisfying. I’m satisfied that the lovers were able to meet despite the long journey the
other one has gone through.

5. Does the denouement provide closure to the narrative or leave it open?

- The ending gave the poem a closure. The lovers are able to meet and satisfy their cravings 

6. What recurrences of words, images, and sounds do you notice?

- "Meeting at Night" makes frequent use of alliteration and consonance. Generally, this is part of

an overall strategy to build a sense of atmosphere and anticipation throughout the poem.

7. Do the recurrences make a pattern, or do they appear randomly?

- It appears in every line. The alliteration creates the sense that the speaker is passing through
separate stages of the journey.

8. Where do images foreshadow later events?

- I don’t think there’s foreshadowing here. The events are presented in a synchronous and
straightforward manner.

9. How does the narrator’s point of view shape the meaning?

- Through hiding its literal meaning until the final lines, the poem manages to capture something
of the excitement—and perhaps even the danger—of love. The speaker makes the difficult
journey to meet this lover precisely because love is worth fighting for.

10. What progression of nature are used to suggest meaning – for example, sunrise/sunset,
spring/water?
- The moon represents distance. This reminder of distance, then, represents the gulf in space and
time between the speaker and the speaker's lover. The moon is also interpreted as a symbol for
the other lover—a faraway person who is nevertheless present even in absence.