Sonnet 18 | Summary, Analysis & Explanation | Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

Sonnet 18 is regarded as one of the masterpieces of William Shakespeare. It is a sonnet, which has received massive appreciation from the critics with regard to its structure and theme. It is a part of Procreation Sonnets, which includes sonnets from 1 to 126. Procreation sonnets are those sonnets of Shakespeare wherein he argues that the Fair Youth should marry and produce children.
The Fair Youth will be able to live forever through these children after his death. It is a mystery to know about the Fair Youth. Nobody Knows, “Who was Fair Youth? What was his name? What was his relationship with Shakespeare?” It is an enigma and will remain an enigma forever. Whatever may be the case, this sonnet is one of the most beautiful sonnets in the history of English literature.

In this beautiful sonnet, Shakespeare is confused as to whether he should compare the beauty of his beloved to a summer’s day or not. He is of the opinion that his beloved is more beautiful than a summer’s day. He puts forward various reasons to support his point of view. He says that the duration of the summer is very short as it sees the dawn of winter very quickly i.e., the end of summer. That’s why; the poet says that his beloved is more beautiful than the summer.

Then he moves forward and says that every beautiful thing has to see the end of its life. It may occur due to natural causes or by chance. Whatever may be the case, every beautiful thing will decline in this world. Thereafter, he turns to his beloved and says that he will not lose his beauty and he will not decline like other things. Rather, he will possess his beauty forever. Death will not be able to touch the beloved of Shakespeare as he has preserved him through his poetic magic. The more the verses of Shakespeare are read, the more the beauty of his beloved will grow. As long as there are human beings and they live, his beloved will live.

P.S: You can also read the transcription of this video on our blog. Here is the link:
https://hubpages.com/literature/Shakespeares-Sonnet-18-Shall-I-Compare-thee-to-a-Summers-Day

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