Shakespearean Sonnet

SHAKESPEAREAN
SONNET
• A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in Iambic Pentameter.
• Iambic pentameter is meter that Shakespeare nearly always used
when writing in verse.
What is Iambic Pentameter?
• Iambic Pentameter has:
• Ten syllables in each line
• Five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
• The rhythm in each line sounds like:
• dee- DUM, dee- DUM, dee- DUM, dee- DUM, dee –DUM
it is the rhythm of the human heart beat.
Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mer’s DAY?
• The Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains followed by
a couplet, the scheme being:abab cdcd efef gg.
• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (a)
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: (b)
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a)
And summer's lease hath all too short a date: (b)
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c)
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (d)
And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c)
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd (d)
• But thy eternal summer shall not fade (e)
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f)
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, (e)
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f)
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g)
So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (g)
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 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 owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

1 quatrain
st
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s Shall I compare you to a summer’s
day? day?
Thou art more lovely and more

The youth’s beauty is more gentle
temperate:
and restrained than the beauty of a
summer day.
Rough winds do shake the darling

Strong winds shake the beautiful
buds of may
bud of the early summer
Summer has a deadline which is too

And summer’s lease hath all too
short
short a date
2 quatrain
nd
Sometime too hot the eye of Sometimes the sun shines too hot
heaven shines
And his golden face is often
And often is his gold complexion obscured
dimmed
All beautiful things occasionally
And every fair from fair sometime become inferior in comparison
decline with their previous state of beauty
By chance or by the changing

By chance, or nature’s changing course of the nature without
course untrimmed ornaments
3rd quatrain
But thy eternal summer shall not But your eternal summer shall
fade not die
Nor lose possession of that fair Nor shall it lose its beauty
thou ow’st which you so richly possess
Nor shall death brag thou You are so pretty that death
wander’st in his shade
won’t want you or brag about
having you.
When in eternal lines to time thou
grow’st
As you will live on my enduring
poetry
Final couplet
So long as men can As long as people live and

breathe, or eyes can see breathe, as long as eyes can see
it
So long lives this, and That is how long these verses

this gives life to thee. will live, continually renewing
you life.
Analysis
• The sonnet first appeared in a 1609 collection of Shakespeare's works. It
was the eighteenth in a group of one hundred twenty-six sonnets called
the Fair Youth Series.
• The first seventeen sonnets were called the Procreation Sonnets because
they dealt with the subject of mortality in the context of the poet addressing
a young man and arguing that he should find a wife and produce children.
• Many experts agree that although Sonnet Eighteen departs from the
procreation theme, the poet continues to address the same young man.
• However, modern readers generally interpret the poem from a modern
perspective and assume that the author is addressing and romantically
pursuing a young woman.
Analysis
• Personification
• Shall I compare thee to a
• The speaker compares his
summer's day?
lover to a summer’s day
Thou art more lovely and and concludes his beloved
more temperate: is actually much more
Rough winds do shake the lovely and temperate.
darling buds of May, • Unlike the beloved,
And summer's lease hath all summer’s beauty is
too short a date: temporary.
Analysis
• Sometime too hot the eye of heaven • The speaker continues to

shines, personify summer and
And often is his gold complexion describes its shortcomings by
dimm'd; pointing out how it is too hot
And every fair from fair sometime and how the clouds can easily
declines, block sunshine.
By chance or nature's changing • The speaker also describes that
course untrimm'd; even ‘chance or nature’s
changing course’ can quickly
end summer’s beauty.
Analysis
• But thy eternal summer shall • The speaker changes his focus
not fade from summer’s flaws to his
own beloved’s immortality.
Nor lose possession of that
fair thou owest; • The speaker claims that his
lover’s eternal summer and
Nor shall Death brag thou beauty will not be subject to
wander'st in his shade, time.
When in eternal lines to time • However he emphasizes that
thou growest: his beloved will also remain
beyond death’s reach. Why?
• Because of his eternal lines
(poem)
Analysis
• Shakespeare concludes
So long as men can breathe his sonnet with a couplet
or eyes can see, that re-emphasizes the
So long lives this and this immortality of poetry
gives life to thee. stated in previous line.
The speaker claims that
as long as men are alive
and can read this poety,
then this(sonnet) will
continue to give life to
her/him.
Theme EVIDENCE
There are many themes Line 9 “But thy eternal summer shall
not fade”
throughout this sonnet
but the main idea is that Line 13-14 “So long as men can
her beauty will not ever breathe or eyes can see, So long lives
change. Also, it portrays this and this gives life to thee.”
that death will not kill her
beauty. Shakespeare Line 12 “When in eternal lines to time
believes that through thou growest.”
poetry, her beauty will be
immortal.
• The speaker is absolutely fixated on fate and mortality, but
believes he’s come up with an effective time machine: poetry.
Instead of thinking about a beautiful summer’s day, this
speaker can’t stop thinking about how everything in life is
temporary and fleeting.
• No need to fear, though poet steps in and announces that, by
artistically representing his beloved, he can save him or her
from the ravages of time.
• Man, in the natural world, can’t avoid being subject to time,
but it is through literature, the poet argues, that he can free
himself.
Literary terms
• SIMILE: compares two different elements or ideas and allow them to
remain distinct in spite of their similarities.
Ex: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
• HYPERBOLE: the use of exaggeration as a rethorical device.

Ex: ‘thy eternal summer’
• ASSONANCE: is the repetition of vowel sounds.

Ex: “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Literary Terms
• METAPHOR: the use of a word or phrase to refer to something that
isn’t, creating a direct similarity between the word or phrase used
and the thing described.
Ex: “The eye of heaven” is used to referring to the SUN.
• ALLITERATION: using several words that begin with the same

letter.
Ex: ‘’And every fair from fair sometime declines’’
‘’By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd’’
Meter
• Meter is a unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats. It is also
called a foot. Each foot has a certain number of syllables in it, usually two
or three syllables. The difference in types of meter is which syllables are
accented and which are not.
• The meter is IAMBIC PENTAMETER
• A IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of an stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable.
ex: Shall I com PARE thee TO a SUM mer’s DAY?
• This beat is used as it replicates the rhythm of that human heart and is a popular
metre for love poetry.

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SHAKESPEAREAN

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

Thou art more lovely and more

Rough winds do shake the darling

Summer has a deadline which is too

By chance or by the changing

So long as men can As long as people live and

So long lives this, and That is how long these verses

• Sometime too hot the eye of heaven • The speaker continues to

• HYPERBOLE: the use of exaggeration as a rethorical device.

• ASSONANCE: is the repetition of vowel sounds.

• ALLITERATION: using several words that begin with the same

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