Considered by some to be the epitome of Romantic Poetry, Sonnet 18 could
be the most popular of the 154 Sonnets. A number of exegeses have revealed
double meanings strewn just about everywhere thereby making it irrevocably one
of the most evocative works in Romantic Literature. A personal favourite and
interestingly highly regarded by those wanting to try their hand at Sonnet
writing.
The Sonnet with a bit of a paradox as the famous question " Shall I
compare thee to a summer's day" seems to beg for an answer in the negative
and yet the next 11 lines are spent doing just that. It would then seem like
this is in fact a rhetorical question seeing as there was gross flattery in the
previous Sonnets and as a result there could would very little justified doubt
that the Fair Youth is to be compared to a 'summer's day'. At this point it is
a tad necessary to remember that a summer's day is often considered to be the paragon
of the seasonal calendar. There is no better weather, scenery or atmosphere to
enjoy than that of a summer's day.
Though
seemingly impossible, the Fair Youth is out-rightly proclaimed as being
"more lovely," immediately leaving to the imagination the true
elegance of the Fair Youth. In order to adequately accentuate the Youth's
superiority in 'looks'( or even in general), Shakespeare goes on to point out
the most distinguished flaws of a summer day. Note the shift from the monotony
of describing the Youth to describing what the Youth isn't.
The theme of time's
passing comes into play in the third line as all too soon, "rough
winds" have their way with "the darling buds of May" a fate to
be avoided by the Youth as expressed by the final couplet. Summer's fatal
metamorphosis is further augmented through the use of the word
"darling" whose connotations point to a girl's progression to
womanhood. A step though celebrated and inevitable is on the face of it aging
and a depreciation of beauty.
Juxtaposition
of Summer's undesirable extremes, " ...too hot the eye of heaven
shines" and "... often is his gold complexion dimm'd" serves to
eke out a sense of abhorrence towards Summer whilst also casting the image of
perfection regarding the Fair Youth. Facets of Summer that are usually
acceptable are made to look like some sort of disaster.
Line
8 reflects a rather interesting change in philosophy from the Procreation
Sonnets as the persona seems to imply that the passage of time might just be a
matter of 'chance'; the concept of inevitability has been swept away since
there is no desire to convince the Fair Youth to have children anymore. This
does leave the persona looking a tad deceitful. Unlike Summer, the Youth's
desirable qualities will not wane as who-so-ever reads this Sonnet would
automatically would know just how beautiful the Fair Youth was. In this,
Shakespeare makes a freakishly accurate prediction thereby also highlighting
the power of writing. His Sonnets have become the offspring and have faired
much better than any other form of preserving a legacy would have.
Quite
evidently good writing is timeless.
A
copy of this analysis is available for download at https://independent.academia.edu/KudzaiMahwite