Both Millay’s “What my lips have kissed” and Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day” poems are created to convey a hidden meaning within the style and central subject matter. The features of each sonnet, outline and contribute to make each have a unique difference from the other. Millay and Shakespeare have very similar writing styles but very different structure within there writing. The meaning behind the two sonnets are very similar and have the same imagery within the text and emphasize love and beauty needs to be eternal like the months of summer appear to be. The sonnets have many similarities and difference’s but have different techniques and features that the words create to contribute to what makes these sonnets special.
The differences between Millay’s and Shakespeare’s poem is that “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers day” (16) is a Shakespearean sonnet with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG and forms an octave. The rhythm is unique and goes along with the rest of his writing and poetry. The meaning within this sonnet
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This is Millay’s most famous poem and is quite similar to Shakespeare’s but has some differences behind the meaning. The meaning within this sonnet is also love and summer imagery but has a different central subject matter. The beauty and grace of summer only sang in her for a little while, “that in me sings no more” (110) meaning that countless loves have come and gone but she still lays alone. She is still alone and unremembered as she states, “Thus in the winter stands a lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one” (110). This creates imagery in that she is the lonely tree and all the lips that she has kissed have vanished one by one throughout her life. Millay has several loves that summer sang in her and Shakespeare only has one love and wants everything to conserve her
Millay uses romantic language. That is evident in the first line, "Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink". The romantic aspect of love is shown in the language of this poem. The poem is not directly about two lovers. It is more indirect, this is what two lovers may face. Her language is picturesque. "Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink / And rise and sink and rise and sink again;" It is as if the poem was showing a picture of a man in the sea that is struggling to survive and throughout the course of bobbing up and down he continues to see a pole or paddle, but he just can't reach it. There are more ideas that can be pictured easily throughout the poem, because of the language that Millay uses. "Love can no fill the thickened lung with breath, / Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;" These lines create an interesting picture in your mind.
When he writes "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare." (lines 13-14) in the final couplet, one responds with an enlightened appreciation, making them understand Shakespeare's message that true love consists of something deeper than physical beauty. Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a wonderful fashion. Not only does he express himself through direct interpretation of his sonnet, but also through the levels at which he styled and produced it. One cannot help but appreciate his message of true love over lust, along with his creative criticism of Petrarchan sonnets.
One of the poems that William Shakespeare wrote is called “That time of year thou mayst in me behold.” It is also known as William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73. This Sonnet is viewed as being comprised of metaphors, which capture the struggle of life. Life in which there is an end to everything but beauty within it. The speaker within this poem is one that reflects on his life and how nature is closely connected with his journey. In order to understand the theme of the poem, the reader must first recognize and understand the three major metaphors within the poem.
(Shakespeare online)The sonnets which are exactly fourteen lines, three groups of four lines that contain the subject or problem which is resolved in the last two lines. One of Shakespeare’s most popular sonnets is Sonnet 18 “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”, (Shakespeare online) where it is believed that Shakespeare is referring to Anne Hathaway his wife. Shakespeare compares love to a summer day and how everything that is beautiful in nature eventually dies, but Anne’s beauty will never fade. (Galegroup) The sonnets are still memorized and read by many people
Shakespeare and Petrarch, two poets popular for their contributions on the issue of love, both tackle the subject of their work through sonnet, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the way, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, it is clear that in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare in fact parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Shakespeare seems, by all accounts, to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s piece by giving an English poem portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. In reviewing "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan work. The leading major contrast between the two poems is the piece structure utilized (McLaughlin).
Analysis of Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day, First Love and Let Me Not
In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, also known as “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” represents and discusses the love and beauty of his beloved. Also, the speaker refers to his love more sweet, temperate, and fair than all the beauty that he can see in nature. He also speaks how the sun can be dim and that nature’s beauty is random: “And often is his gold complexion dimm’d / And every fair from fair sometimes declines” (6-7). At the end of the poem the speaker explains that they beauty of the person that is being mentioned is not so short because, his love with live as long as people are still reading this sonnet. The beauty of his beloved with last longer than nature, because although nature is beautiful flowers and other things still have to die: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see / so long lives this and this gives life to thee” (13-14) Also, the speaker is comparing his love to a summer’s day, but does not really say anything specific or that the qualities given to his beloved are more superior to a summer’s day, which can allow the reader to understand that his beloved can stay young, beautiful, and never going to die.
Sonnets have been loved for centuries for their poetic and expressive themes about love. William Shakespeare, a timeless figure known for his significant contribution to English literature and the arts, wrote a hundred sonnets during his lifetime and its universal themes such as love are enjoyed by readers today. His sonnets described the passing of time from someone in love by using a wide range of imagery and metaphors. Shakespeare is quite a romanticist but not all of his works are happy. For example, Romeo and Juliet was a splendid depiction of the struggles of two young lovers trying to be together. The movie Shakespeare in Love gives readers a fictional and alternative view of what kind of inspiration during Shakespeare’s life influenced his plays and writing to be so tender and romantic.
In this sonnet, Shakespeare is creating a mental picture of spring and summer to compare against his loved one. He uses the fact that fine and beautiful days are the creation of nature, and nature is constantly changing all the time. Fine days never stay the same: 'rough winds' or the sun obscured by clouds, 'and often is his gold complexion dim'd', can easily mar a fine day. He talks about these negative factors of change in the first eight lines, and Shakespeare then uses these ideas to claim that his loved one will always remain untarnished, speaking of how 'thy eternal summer shall not fade' and how his loved one has lasting qualities that will outshine death: 'Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade' These thoughts come to a confident, final... ... middle of paper ... ...
Therefore, because William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and Edmund Spenser’s “Sonnet 75” share the idea that love is sincere and eternal, they can be looked upon as similar in theme. However, although similar in theme, Shakespeare’s intent is portraying the true everlasting beauty of his love, which is already achieved, whereas Spenser concentrates more on trying to entice his desired love, remaining optimistic throughout the entire poem.
At the time of its writing, Shakespeare's one hundred thirtieth sonnet, a highly candid, simple work, introduced a new era of poems. Shakespeare's expression of love was far different from traditional sonnets in the early 1600s, in which poets highly praised their loved ones with sweet words. Instead, Shakespeare satirizes the tradition of comparing one's beloved to the beauties of the sun. From its opening phrase "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun", shocks the audience because it does not portray a soft, beautiful woman. Despite the negative connotations of his mistress, Shakespeare speaks a true woman and true love. The sonnet is a "how-to" guide to love.
As each day goes by the beauty of our vibrant youth decays and diminishes. In "Sonnet 15" Shakespeare refers to youth as life at its peak, however this precious point in our life is short-lived. Shakespeare speaks of youth as a single moment of perfection. He glorifies youth and alleges to immortalize it through his poetic words. He uses metaphors, imagery, and rhyme in a way to enhance the beauty and perfection of mans youth while in its prime. Through this he demonstrate the love and richness of youth despite the tole time takes on it.
In William Shakespeare’s sonnet “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” the audience is introduced to a poem in which he himself goes into depth about the person he is infatuated with. The author does not give any type of hints telling the audience who the poem is towards because it can be for both male and female. That’s the interesting part about William Shakespeare’s work which is to second hand guess yourself and thinking otherwise. Making you think and think rational when you read his work. The sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summers day” is one of his most famous and published poem. Shakespeare’s tone of voice at the commence of the poem is somewhat relaxed and joyful because he is going on talking about the person he is intrigued by. Throughout the passage Metaphors, similes and imagery can all be found in the poem itself
In “Sonnet 18” the very first line is a simile: “Shall I compare thee to a summer 's day.” He is comparing a summer day to the beauty of his lover. There is also metaphor in this poem, when Shakespeare says “thy eternal summer shall not fade." He is saying the she will always look young to him and is comparing eternal summer to the girl.. Another device used in this sonnet is imagery. Throughout the sonnet, he uses imagery with the way he describes the summer day and the way he describes the woman’s beauty. For example, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.” “Sonnet 130” also has similes and metaphors. “My mistress ' eyes are nothing like the sun,” is an example of a metaphor. The sun is being compared to the girl’s eyes. In “Sonnet 130” there is also imagery, but it is defined in a different way. In this sonnet, imagery is through negative thoughts and words. He says “My mistress ' eyes are nothing like the sun” and that “Coral is far more red than her lips ' red.” He is comparing coral to his ladies lips. In these two sonnets, imagery is used similarly since both show how beautiful the woman is, in each separate poem. However, imagery in Sonnet 130 explains that beauty is not everything due to his women being not as beautiful as the one in Sonnet 18, but still loving her. While in Sonnet 18, the imagery shows that his women is more beautiful than a “Summer’s day,” and that her beauty will last
The ritual of courtly love had rigid codes of conduct associated with it. Shakespeare took his writing to new levels by subtly defying the codes of conduct and relating courtly love to relationships between both two men and a man and a woman. Shakespeare addresses his first 126 sonnets to the same fair man. Sonnet 18, by far one of the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets, was written to illustrate his love and adoration for the man. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?