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Reasoning
We chose Shakespeare’s poem “Shall I Compare
Thee to a Summer’s Day?” because we have
never read any Shakespeare’s poems other than
his play, so we think this is going to a great
experience for us, as well as we appreciate his
literature style very much. In this poem he used a
lot of poetic techniques which made the poem
interesting. Shakespeare presented love in a
completely new way, giving us a different
understanding about love. In the end, we think this
poem is sweet and romantic.
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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 shine,
And often in 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 ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st 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.
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Theme
The theme of our poem is eternal love.
Shakespeare compares his lover to summer, the
most beautiful season of the year. However,
summer’s beauty cannot exist all year long, but his
love for her and her beauty will always exist.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st 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.
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Structure
Our poem is a Shakespearean sonnet.
This type of sonnet is divided into four distinct
parts.
It starts off with three quatrains and ends with a
rhyming couplet.
The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.
Each quatrain offers different examples of, or
statements, on a theme.
The final couplet contains the conclusion to the
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Extended Metaphor
The entire poem is an extended metaphor
comparing a summer’s day to Shakespeare’s
lover’s eternal beauty.
Quatrain 1:
Compared to a summer’s day, she is better than a summer’s day
because she is more lovely and temperate. In lines 3 and 4
Shakespeare compares how summer eventually ends but his
love for her and her beauty never will.
Quatrain 2:
Shakespeare compares the ever-changing seasons with his
lover’s unchanging beauty.
Quatrain 3:
Shakespeare says his lover’s beauty is will never fade, his lover
for her is eternal.
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Symbolism
In the poem, a summer’s day is a symbol for the
poet’s love for his lover and her eternal beauty.
Most people think summer is the most beautiful
season in the year since it is always so sunny and
bright. This is the same perspective as
Shakespeare’s, only better. During summer,
winds blow the buds off of the flowers, destroying
their beauty. However, her beauty is eternal,
nothing in the world can damage her beauty.
Seasons cycle during the year, summer will not
stay forever. But no matter what happens, her
beauty will always exist as she lives on in
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Imagery
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
(line 3)
This line provides a good image (sight) of petite
buds swaying in wild wind.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines (line 5)
This line provides a good image (sight) of hot
summer sun, shinning in the glorious sky.
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Other Poetic Techniques
Within the poem, Shakespeare also used the
following techniques:
Personification
Ex: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
(Line 5)
And often his gold complexion dimm’d; (Line 6)
He is giving heaven a human trait, saying heaven
has an eye.
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
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Other Poetic Techniques
Iambic Pentameter
All of the lines in this poem has a pattern of non-
stressed followed by a stressed syllable.
Ex: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Metric Poetry
This poem consists of a rhythm pattern, with ten
syllables in each line.
Ex: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all to short a date:
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Questions
1)If you were Shakespeare and you wanted to
write a love poem, what would you compare
your lover to? Why?
2)Why did Shakespeare use summer to compare
his love in the poem? How is this choice
effective?
3)Do you believe love is eternal? Why?
