Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

Word Count: 617
Teanna Armstrong
Enc 1102
Essay #3
March 11, 2013

Sonnet, Theme, and Structure of “Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day?”

A sonnet’s structure has symbolism and it presents the theme in many poems of Literature. In the poem “Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day?” by William Shakespeare happens to be a sonnet. To begin with, the sonnet mentioned above is called a Shakespearean sonnet. It is composed of three four-line quatrains and a concluding two-line couplet. Certain components of the author’s point are suggested to be based on its structural patterns; components such as thought and feeling. Meaning this sonnet can introduce the subject in the first quatrain, expand and develop it in the second and third quatrains, and conclude something about it in its final couplet. This whole set up helps the reader to capture the theme; and helps the author to organize the theme. As well as, the sonnet’s structure plays a key role, other than just being a Shakespeare and sonnet. The structure of the sonnet is strictly constrained, and this one in particular is believed to be a fixed form sonnet. Poems in fixed forms are recognized by their rhyme, meter, and repetition. Furthermore, usually in its opening line the central idea of the poems is expressed. The theme of the poem “Shall I Compare the to a summer’s day” May be stated as: Can someone, or the subject, really be compared to all the components of a summer after understanding the theme it shows the reader that the sonnet is asking is the subject comparable to a summer’s day, making the structure of the poem easier to understand. To illustrate, the theme is hinted in the first half of the first stanza; which starts the order of the sonnet’s theme. It is clearly indicated that the second line: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s Day?” (874) is the question that he will be answering. This question also shows that a comparison will be made. The question that remains is what is being compared to what. This is answered in the second line, which states “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” (874). This statement shows that Shakespeare is comparing a summer’s day to a person who is more lovely and temperate compared to the day of a summer. Moreover, the structure of this sonnet has setup the central theme for the reader in the first stanza. What lies in the next two stanzas are details and deeper emotions or thoughts to fill the reader’s mind with illusions of the sonnet. These middle stanzas are placed in Shakespearean sonnets for this essential reason. The details in this particular selection creates more compare and contrast examples between that person and a Summer’s day. Although Shakespeare wrote the contrast and compare by explaining all of the Cons of summer in these two stanzas, and in the last two line, also known as the couplet, he turns the direction back onto the person he was speaking of to show what the cons were compared to. Not only that, but Shakespeare also showed meaning in this couplet: “So long as men can breathe… This gives life to thee” (874). The statement stated before is meaning the opposite of what was said in the first two stanzas about the summer. Instead, Shakespeare is indicating that the person will live on through his poem forever unlike a Summer’s day. In Conclusion, many poems have different components that lead the reader to realize the central theme. In sonnets particularly, everything is placed where it should be for a reason. All sonnets have symbolism and presents the theme in many pieces of literature as explained above.

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Works Cited 1. Diyanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Unites States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. Print.

Cited: 1. Diyanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Unites States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. Print.