William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English

poet and playwright, widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English language
and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He
is often called England's national poet. He
was a great poet, who wrote a number of
long narrative poems and a sonnet
sequences consisting of 154 sonnets. His
plays have been translated into every
major living language and are performed
more often than those of any other 1
 William Shakespeare
1- He was a successful dramatist, who wrote 73 plays.
 His plays : Romeo and juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and
Othello, all considered to be among the finest and famous
works in the English language.
 His plays were box-office successes because plays were
popular and profitable because a great number of
audiences attended them .
2- “He was not of an age, but for all time”
The playwright Ben Jon Son said these words because
William Shakespeare’s plays live equally well on stage and
on a book shelf. 1
 What is a
sonnet?
 A Poem consists of 14 lines using any number of
formal rhyme schemes patterns. It deals with one idea
or emotion.
 The word sonnet comes from the Italian word sonneto
it means little song.
 William Shakespear changed the rhyme scheme
instead of “aabb” ABAB CDCDEFEFGG. 1
 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:

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 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: 1

 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,

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 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

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 Poetr Sonnet “18”
y (subject)  thee : you ( direct object)
 thou : you
 art : are  data : time
 temperate: mild, moderate, even- tempered baying
a calm good temper; not wasily made angry.
 bud: a young tightly rolled-up flower or leaf before
it opens.
 lease : contract to rent a house, permission to stay
somewhere. 1
 Poetr Sonnet “18”
y
 hath : has  darling : dearly loved

 lovely : beautiful  all too short : a very short

 complexion : colour  rough : beautiful

of face

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 Main idea (theme)

 The theme of the poem is love.

The speaker compares his lover’s beauty
to the sun and other heavenly bodies.
The poet describes his love as an eternal.
1
 Paraphrase
 The poem starts with a rhetorical question whether
he should compare his beloved to day in summer. He
states that the beloved’s beauty far surpasses over
top summer’s delight. The speaker lists some
negative things about summer like: It is short and the
sun is too hot. In May, strong winds sometimes blow
shaking the small fragile buds. 1
 Paraphrase
 Summer doesn’t last long time. All beautiful
creatures doesn’t last forever. on the contrary, his
beloved’s summer, will last forever. By putting his
love’s beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is
preserving it forever. The lover’s beauty will live on,
through the poem which will last as long as it can be
read. 1
 Figures of speech
 There is personification in line 6 " his gold
complexion dimmed".
- The poet personifies his beloved to the face of the
sun with a gold colour.
 There is personification in line 11" nor shall Death
brag thou".
- The poet personifies death to a person who boasts
or speaks proudly. 1
 There is a metaphore in line 5
"sometime too hot the eye of heaven".
- The poet likens the sun to the eye of heaven.
 There is an extended metaphor in line 1.
“ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”
-This is an extended metaphor as it runs on
throughout the poem.
-The poet compares the woman he loves to all of the
best characteristics of a summer’s day. 1
 There is a metaphor in line 4

“summer’s lease hath all too short a date”.

 - The poet compares the period of the summer

season to a rent or contract which has a short

definite duration.

1
 There is a metaphor in line 9 "eternal summer".

 - The poet compares his beloved’s beauty to an “

eternal summer” which is full of vitality.

 - This image reflects the poet’s idea that wonderful

art can immortalize physical beauty which is

mortal and temporal. 1

 Sound Devices and diciton
 There is a repetition in line 2 "more".
It draws the reader’s attention.
- This creates internal musical patterns in the sonnet.
 There is a repetition line 7 and 10 “ fair”.
 There is a repetition in the final couplet “ so long”.

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 Sound Devices and diciton
 There is alliteration in line 5 “hot” “heaven”.
- It intensifies the sense of music and creates unity
between words.
 There is a rhetorical question in line 1.
“ Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
- It draws the reader’s attention.
1
 Form
 This poem is written in the form of a sonnet.
It consists of 14 lines, which divided into three
quatrians and a couplet. The rhyme scheme is :
ababcdcdefefgg

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