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 dimmed, d

And every fair from fair sometimes declines, c

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed; d

But thy eternal summer shall not fade, e

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; f

Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, e

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: f

So long as man can breathe, or eyes can see, g

So long lives this and this gives life to thee g

This is a Shakespearean sonnet with no characteristics of a Petrarchan sonnet.

Lease the term during which possession is guaranteed

Date the time during which something lasts

Complexion colour, visible aspect, appearance

To decline to diminish, decrease, deteriora

'SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER'S DAY'

A Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet. This also applies to sonnet 18. The first quatrain introduces the subject. The second quatrain presents a generalisation of the idea that no beauty lasts forever. The third quatrain, aptly introduced by "but" (a clear turn), states that the beauty of the person this poem is addressed to is something that cannot be touched by time. The final couplet, in very consistent iambic pentameter, encapsulates the idea of eternal life through versification.

To brag to declare or assert boastfully

What then is the result of the comparison? Already in line 2 it becomes clear that the object of admiration is preferred to the "summer's day". The following lines (lines 3 to 8) present a number of negative qualities of summer. These can be reduced to two basic ideas which are joined in line 4: "And summer's lease hath too short a date".

Untrimmed not carefully or neatly arranged or attired

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sometimes Rough, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare Sonnet, GLOSSARY Temperate, summer's day, line 1, compare thee summer's, lease hath short, hath short date, DAY' Sonnet, summer's lease hath, death brag, hath short, summer's lease, rough winds, short date, lease hath, thee summer's, sonnet 18, line 4 summer's,
Approximate Word count = 1052
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)