The Beauty of the Beloved

A detailed Summary of The Beauty of the Beloved

In Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, the author cleverly refers to the passing of time with images of nature and the seasons. He uses a summer's day as an image for how short-lived youth and love can be. Let me scrutinize the poem.

The speaker initiates the poem with a rhetorical question: " Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" This question is comparing his beloved to the summer time of the year. It is during this time when the flowers are blooming, trees are full of leaves, the weather is warm, and it is generally thought of as an enjoyable time during the year. The writer, in the following lines, explains what mainly separates the young woman from the summer's day: she is "more lovely and more temperate"(line 2). He

argues that the wind may spoil the beauty of summer, which is not always as welcoming as the woman. However, the speaker then gives the feeling that the summer months are often too short by saying, " And summer's lease hath too short a date" (line 4). The splendor of summer is affected by the intensity of the sunlight, and, as the seasons change, summer becomes less beautiful. In the third quatrain of the sonnet, the writer tells how the beloved differs from the summer in various respects. Her beauty will be one that lasts forever, "Thy eternal summer shall not fade" (line 9). She, unlike summer, will never deteriorate. He further asserts that his beloved will neither become less beautiful, nor even die, because she is immortalized through his

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shakespeare's Sonnet, William Shakespeare, , summer's day, lovely temperateline 2, unlike summer, lovely temperateline, live forever, temperateline 2, poem speaker,

Approximate Word count = 506
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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The Beauty of the Beloved

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