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Criticism of Sonnet 18
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Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare is a captivating love poem of a young man fascinated
by his mistress beauty and affectionately by her to natural beauty. The poem was likely
published around 1609. The poem focus on the beauty of nature and ability of the Shakespeare to
portray that kind of beauty. Sonnet 18 is a love poem however, the object of affection in the
poem is not straightforward as it is portrayed in the first line. This essay is a criticism of sonnet
18 by William Shakespeare.
The poem begins with a rhetorical question with series of simile thus enabling the reader
to explore deeper on the nature of beauty and its comparisons. From the first line, the poem
opens with ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, an indication of a young man who is deeply
in love (Shakespeare 1). The speaker envision his lover as a beautiful creature and even wonders
if one can compare her beauty to any summer season. The way Shakespeare express deep
emotional feelings in the poem makes the poem to fall under the lyric genre. As such, the first
line provide an assumption to the reader that the speaker is not sure of what is more beautiful, is
it the mistress or the summer day? In the preceding stanzas, the poet makes the air as he become
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overcome by flamboyant feelings and admits that his mistress is lovelier than the summer itself
(Shakespeare 2). As such, the poem embeds an image of eternal and undying kind of beauty as
visualized by the Shakespeare.
Shakespeare adopts a thematic structure techniques to express the beauty of the lover.
Analysis of the sonnet 18 line-by-line indicate that the first stanza acts as an eye opener of the
poet attempts to state the reasons why his lover is the best. From stanza one to six, the poet gives
solid reason why one cannot compare his lover to summer. Despite summer appearing to be
more beautiful as well, sometimes is not constant and it can disappoint and it cannot be solely
relied on. Summer does not last the way his lover’s beauty will last. From the first six stanzas, a
detailed reasons to the rhetorical question are posed. The persona praises and awe are revealed in
these stanzas. Unlike summer, her beauty is constant and cannot be shaken by strong wind. It
cannot waiver in the presence of the beholder like clouds swallow summer. The preceding
stanzas revealed that the beauty of the lover cannot be claimed by anything.
Sonnet 18 features an affectionate mood which is shown in the almost all part of the
poem. The tone of the poem is romantics as shown by the young man who is fascinated by his
lover’s beauty. Therefore, the tone and mood of the poem play a critical role in describing the
setting of the poem. On a warm summer day, the poet is sitting on the field. (Shakespeare 1).
Even though the weather seeming ideal, it is breezy with rough winds shaking the buds of May
(Shakespeare 3). This is an indication, that the author of the poem is seated under a tree and he
is enjoying the hot afternoon weather. As shown in the poem, the poet enjoy the afternoon till the
clouds swallow the sun. Personification and metaphor are used in the poem thus bringing life
into the poem. The poet uses figurative language to presume change, immortality and fate. He
explains how the persona will save the beauty of his lover from fading from earth’s surface.
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(Shakespeare 12). As a literary device, summer is used to mean life of the mistress that should be
safe from fate. In this case, fate, is shown as scorching sun and rough winds. Death and rough
wind re imagery in the poem. These metaphor symbolizes the speaker will always be there for
the lover. The poet look at beauty as an art that cannot diminish despite challenges in life.
Beauty, however, cannot be applied for everything, but only images that often appeal to the eyes
of the beholder than nature (Quackenbush et al 1). As such, this kind of beauty is immortal and
can surpass all kinds of tribulation brought by nature.
On the surface, the poem can be viewed as simply statement of praise regarding beauty of
the beloved. Summer is personified as the eye of heaven with gold complexion, meaning it is a
promise of the speaker to the lover. Comparatively, the language used in the poem is unadorned
for the sonnet. The language is heavy with alliteration and assonance, nearly all line in the poem
is self-countered clause. Almost all line in the poem finishes with a punctuation.
Sonnet 18 is a captivating love poem by William Shakespeare that expresses the love of a
young man to his lover. From the first line, the poem show that the speaker is deeply in love and
he envision his lovers beautiful creature as one that cannot be compared to summer despite
summer a being a beautiful season. The poem uses imagery like metaphor, symbolism,
personification, smile, rhetorical question and alliteration to express the theme of love in the
poem. The poet uses tone and mood to reveal the setting of the poem.
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Works cited
Quackenbush, Karen. Quackenbush, Don. Krizza, Pearl. Stylistic Analysis of Sonnet 18 By
William Shakespeare. (2019). P. 1 Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333578310_Stylistics_analysis_of_sonnet_18_
by_William_Shakespeare
Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer Day. 1609. P.1
