Sonnets

Shakespeare uses elements of a poem such as imagery and symbolism in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” and “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing like the Sun” to bring out the theme of a man’s love toward a woman. The two sonnets have a similar theme, but the author describes two different women at two separate times in their lives.

            The two sonnets use objects in our world to relay facts about the women. The first line of sonnet eighteen asks a question “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”  This question is a good elicitor of emotion and imagery. (Shakespeare, 943) A person could read this question and feel warmth because of the natural idea of the sun creating heat. This imagery not only creates warmth but also the ideas of youth and beauty. The next line of the poem pushes these ideas further. It reads, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” (Shakespeare, 943)

One understands the beauty associated with the sun; but with the second line, a person can imagine that this young woman is gorgeous. The author goes on in the next few lines: “And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; and every fair from fair sometime declines” (Shakespeare, 943). We understand that the sun does not always shine; there are times when it sets, and by comparison, a young woman’s fairness tends to decline over time. Shakespeare then states in the sestet, 

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. (Shakespeare, 943 – 944)

Those lines are an interesting response to the first octave. The summer fades, but this young woman’s “eternal summer” shall not fade because the lines of the poem described her beauty. It is also interesting to think Shakespeare hints at the idea that death cannot hold a person if she is remembered. This is not saying that a person does not die, but that remembrance in literature is the key for eternal posterity. The lines ironically give life after death.

        Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing like the Sun,” also compares a woman to objects in the world. (Shakespeare, 944) This sonnet is designed and written in a way that pushes the reader’s mind to understand true love. Understanding true love comes from questioning. One such question is, whether there is a connection between love and beauty.

               Shakespeare begins the sonnet with a negative outlook. From the first line of the poem, one should realize that this poem is about an older woman. If one’s eyes are nothing like the sun, the youth most likely has passed. In addition, line five and six hold a clue of the woman's older age. 

I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, 

But no such roses see I in her cheeks; (Shakespeare, 945)

We can see imagery in these lines. One imagines rosy cheeks of a youthful young woman, but when imagining an older woman those rosy cheeks are no longer rosy. This is quite amazing how Shakespeare writes a sonnet that completely goes against traditions. Writing of any woman and not exaggerating her beauty or her features is not traditional. Instead, Shakespeare writes of her plainness and of her beauty that has faded. This gives a true image of her, and gives more respect to the author when one reads lines thirteen and fourteen.

               Line twelve and thirteen states 

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 

as any she belied with false compare”. (Shakespeare, 945)

After describing the woman as she is, Shakespeare uses these final two lines to bring a brilliant concept to the forefront of the mind: love is not intrinsically connected to beauty. The idea of true love emanates when we love people no matter how old they are or how they look 

               Sonnet 130 is in reality the love of a man for an imperfect woman. Shakespeare says that this man finds his love rare and special. The lines that contain the imagery and symbolism of Sonnet 130 contain insulting remarks, but in the sestet, the author redeems himself by stating he loves to hear her speak. The only problem is the next line after stating he loves to hear her speak, the author says that music is far more pleasant to hear.       

            After an analysis we see that both sonnet eighteen and 130 use imagery to accomplish its own theme. Though one sonnet uses the negative imagery and the other uses positive imagery, both sestets of the sonnets redeem the author. Sonnet eighteen’s redemption is in line nine, which states that the woman’s eternal summer shall not fade; but in Sonnet 130 we see the redemption in line thirteen and fourteen. Therefore, in the end, we see that Shakespeare uses the same elements to show the themes, but ends up showing two different aspects of similar themes.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”. Literature and its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama 3^rd Edition. Charters, Ann and Samuel, Editors. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 943 – 944

{Do not use two end marks – use the question mark after the poem title if you make the citation this way.}

Shakespeare, William. “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing like the Sun”. Literature and its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama 3^rd Edition. Charters, Ann and Samuel, Editors. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 944 - 945