Sonnet 18 Flashcards
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Sonnet 18
What question does the speaker ask in the opening line of Sonnet 18?
The speaker asks whether he should compare the beloved to a summer's day, a rhetorical question that sets up the poem's central comparison.
What flaws of summer does the speaker identify in lines 3-8?
Summer is marred by rough winds, brevity ('all too short a date'), an inconsistent sun that is sometimes too hot and sometimes dimmed, and the inevitable decline of all natural beauty.
What happens at the turn (line 9) of Sonnet 18?
The speaker pivots from cataloging summer's imperfections to declaring that the beloved's beauty, unlike summer's, will never fade because it is preserved in the poem.
What promise does the final couplet of Sonnet 18 make?
It promises that as long as people can breathe or see, the poem will endure and continue to give life to the beloved, making their beauty immortal.
Who is the 'Fair Youth' that Sonnet 18 is believed to address?
The Fair Youth is an unidentified young man who is the subject of Sonnets 1-126. Leading candidates include Henry Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton) and William Herbert (Earl of Pembroke).
How does the speaker characterize the beloved compared to summer?
The speaker says the beloved is 'more lovely and more temperate' than a summer's day, meaning the beloved possesses a beauty that is both greater and more consistent than summer's.
How does Sonnet 18 explore the theme of immortality through art?
The poem argues that poetry can defeat time and death by preserving the beloved's beauty in 'eternal lines,' making the written word more enduring than any natural beauty.
How does Sonnet 18 portray the conflict between beauty and time?
The first eight lines show that all natural beauty is temporary—summer ends, the sun fades, and 'every fair from fair sometime declines'—while the volta claims the beloved's beauty escapes this fate through verse.
Why does Sonnet 18 mark a turning point in Shakespeare's sonnet sequence?
Sonnets 1-17 urged the Fair Youth to have children to preserve his beauty; Sonnet 18 introduces the new argument that poetry itself can immortalize beauty, replacing biological with artistic creation.
What role does nature play thematically in Sonnet 18?
Nature serves as a foil: its beauty is undeniable but impermanent. By showing summer's limitations, Shakespeare elevates human art above the natural world as a means of preservation.
What is the rhyme scheme and form of Sonnet 18?
It follows the Shakespearean sonnet form: 14 lines of iambic pentameter with three quatrains and a couplet, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
Identify the personification in 'Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade.'
Death is personified as a boastful figure who claims the dead wander in his shadow. The speaker denies death this satisfaction by asserting the beloved will live on through the poem.
What extended metaphor structures the entire poem?
The comparison between the beloved and a summer's day is an extended metaphor that runs through all 14 lines. The speaker introduces it, tests it, finds it inadequate, and ultimately replaces it with the permanence of poetry.
How does Shakespeare use personification when describing the sun?
The sun is called 'the eye of heaven' with a 'gold complexion' that can be 'dimmed,' giving it human facial features and suggesting it has moods, much like a person whose face brightens or clouds over.
What is the effect of anaphora in the final six lines of Sonnet 18?
The repetition of 'Nor' in lines 10-11 and 'So long' in lines 13-14 creates rhythmic emphasis and a sense of mounting certainty, reinforcing the speaker's defiant confidence that the beloved will outlast death.
What does 'temperate' mean in 'Thou art more lovely and more temperate'?
Temperate means moderate, even-tempered, and mild. The speaker is saying the beloved's beauty is more balanced and consistent than the extremes of a summer's day.
What does 'untrimmed' mean in 'nature's changing course untrimmed'?
Untrimmed means stripped of ornament or beauty. It suggests that nature's inevitable changes will eventually strip away the decorative beauty of all things.
What does 'ow'st' mean in 'Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st'?
Ow'st is an archaic form of 'ownest,' meaning 'you own' or 'you possess.' The line says the beloved will never lose possession of their beauty.
What is the significance of the line 'And summer's lease hath all too short a date'?
By describing summer as holding a 'lease,' Shakespeare uses legal/commercial language to suggest that summer's beauty is temporary and borrowed, not owned—it must eventually be surrendered back to time.
What does the line 'Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines' convey?
It describes the sun as unreliable—sometimes blazing too intensely. This imperfection in nature's greatest light source reinforces the argument that even the best of summer cannot match the beloved's consistent beauty.
What self-referential claim does 'So long lives this, and this gives life to thee' make?
The word 'this' refers to the poem itself. The line is self-fulfilling: it claims the poem will preserve the beloved forever, and centuries of continued readership have proven that claim true.