The exact words
A compliment that turns into a boast
Sonnet 18 begins with a question that sounds like the start of a simple love poem: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The rest of the poem explains why the answer is no. The beloved is “more lovely and more temperate,” calmer and more even, than any summer. Summer has rough winds that “shake the darling buds of May,” it is over too quickly (“summer’s lease hath all too short a date”), the sun is sometimes too hot and sometimes clouded over, and every beautiful thing eventually fades.
Then the poem turns. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade.” The beloved will never lose their beauty, and even Death will not be able to brag that they wander in his shadow, “when in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.” The “eternal lines” are the lines of the poem.
The real subject
The final couplet makes the bold claim the whole poem has been building toward: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” The poet is promising immortality through art. As long as anyone reads the sonnet, the person it describes is still alive in it. Four hundred years later, the promise has been kept, although we no longer know who the person was.
In the 1609 collection, Sonnet 18 comes right after seventeen poems urging a young man to marry and have children so his beauty will survive. Here the poet offers another way to defeat time: poetry.
How to use it
The opening line is a wedding classic, but the whole poem is short enough to read, about 45 seconds, and the ending is the strongest part. If you only quote the first line, consider adding the couplet so the meaning lands. In an essay, focus on the turn at “But thy eternal summer,” where the poem changes from comparison to promise.
What people get wrong
A simple compliment comparing someone to a lovely summer day.
The poem rejects the comparison. Summer is too windy, too hot and too short. The real boast is in the ending, that the poem will make the beloved immortal.
Timeline
- 1590sShakespeare writes his sonnets, which circulate among friends in manuscript.
- 1609The sonnets are published by Thomas Thorpe. Sonnet 18 is the first after a run of 17 poems urging a young man to marry and have children.
- TodayThe opening line is one of the most recognized lines of poetry in English.
Use it in a speech
Questions people ask
What does “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” mean?
The poet asks whether the beloved can be compared to a summer day, then argues they are better, “more lovely and more temperate,” since summer is short and unreliable.
What does the final couplet mean?
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” As long as people read this poem, the beloved will live on in it.
Who is Sonnet 18 addressed to?
It is one of the sonnets usually thought to be addressed to a young man, sometimes called the Fair Youth. His identity is unknown.
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.