Sonnet 18

A detailed Summary of Sonnet 18

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a carefully patterned rhyme scheme. Few poets have ever truly mastered the art of writing a sonnet. Sonnets are very clear, short, focused projections of a major theme of life. It is an incredibly difficult task to create a masterpiece with such a rigid structure to follow. Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard brought the sonnet form into English poetry in the sixteenth century. They introduced some modifications into the Petrarchan form, choosing to use three quatrains and a couplet, instead of the traditional octet and sestet. The two also employed a different, but still tightly controlled rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. This form later became known as the Shakespearean sonnet, named after its greatest practitioner. William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest author that ever lived, wrote a collection of 154 sonnets that are truly a work of pure brilliance. Shakespeare uses both Petrarchan and Shakespearean structure in his sonnets. Sonnet 18, one of the most famous of Shakespeare's collection, is a masterpiece that truly shows Shakespeare's incredible ability as a writer.

The structure of the Shakespearean sonnet, its rhyme pattern, and meter are all faithfully illus

trated in this work, as three successive quatrains of iambic pentameter verse leading lyrically to a concluding rhymed couplet and a high note. The rhyme scheme is strict, following the consistent abab cdcd efef gg pattern. The ironic tone of this poem suggests a dramatic occasion in which the speaker attempts to quiet his lovers concerns about the negative impact of time and age on beauty.

Due to all of these shortcomings of summer, Shakespeare shows in the third quatrain of this sonnet that comparing his lover to this season fails to do him justice. While "often is gold complexion dimmed," her "eternal summer shall not fade." The lover, unlike summer, will never deteriorate, become less beautiful, or even die, because she is immortalized through his poetry. The sonnet is concluded with the couplet," So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." These last two lines further simplify the theme, vowing that for all eternity his lover will be immortalized by his poetry.

Although Shakespeare seems to be conforming to the classic standards of sonnet writing in Sonnet 18, he seems to elevate it by not using the conventions of other Elizabethan so

Some common words found in the essay are:
Petrarchan Shakespearean, Henry Howard, , William Shakespeare, rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter, abab cdcd efef, writing sonnet, cdcd efef gg, immortalized poetry, cdcd efef, efef gg, shakespearean sonnet, lovely temperate, summer's day, sonnet 18,

Approximate Word count = 812
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Sonnet 18

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