Shakespeare: Sonnet 18

What is a sonnet?

​Characteristics:

• 14 lines

• octet/octave 8 lines

• sestet 6 lines

• economical rhyme scheme

• volta: turn or transition

  • similarity

  • opposition

  • solution

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Sonnet 18

Multiple Choice

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

• tea

• the

• you

• her

No distinction between subject/object

​No distinction between singular/plural

Modern English

Different forms for:

• object/subject

• singular/plural

​​Middle English

Thou (singular) = informal

You (plural) = formal

​

Shakespeare's English

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.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?
You are more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease has all too short a date.

Sonnet 18

Match

Match the following words from the poem with its meaning:

• temperate

• lease

• darling

• lovely

not extreme

a contract

small & cute

beautiful, attractive

• not extreme

• a contract

• small & cute

• beautiful, attractive

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?
You are more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease has all too short a date.

Sonnet 18

Multiple Select

Summer...

• is a time of hard work on the fields

• can be quite windy

• doesn't last very long

• is too often too hot

• often has rainfall too

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;

Sonnet 18

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every beautiful from beauty sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

Sonnet 18

Multiple Choice

the "eye of heaven"

• a cloud

• the sun

• the earth

• the moon

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,

Sonnet 18

But your eternal summer will not fade,
Nor lose possession of that beauty you owe,
Nor will death brag you wander in his shade,

Sonnet 18

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.

Sonnet 18

When in eternal lines to Time you grow.
    So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
    So long lives this, and this gives life to you.

Sonnet 18

​the Sun/summer's day	​Thou
​	​more lovely, more temperate
​rough winds l.3	​
​doesn't last very long l.4	​your beauty will not fade l.9-10
​sometimes too hot l.5	​
​often obscured by clouds l.6	​
​all beauty must die l.7	​you will never die l.11-12
​	​your beauty will grow as time passes l.13 You will live forever through this poem l.14

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.

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.
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.

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.
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.

Sonnet 18

​abab

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​efef

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.

Sonnet 18

​abab

​cdcd

gg

​efef

​volta