Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

It is generally believed that this sonnet is dedicated to the Earl of Southampton. William Shakespeare's friend is immortalized in this sonnet.

The sonnet compares the perfection of his friend with the imperfections of a summer's day.

The poem is a typical Shakespearean sonnet. It consists of 14 lines: three quatrains and one rhyming couplet.

First Quatrain

When Shakespeare speaks of a summer's day, he refers to it literally and figuratively. Literally, it is a warm long day. Figuratively, it is a time in a person's life. His patron was in the summer of his life, lovelier and more temperate than a literal day. By saying that his patron is 'more lovely', he is saying that he is kind and loving. By saying he is 'more temperate', he means that his friend is gentle and unchanging.

Shakespeare refers to the imperfections of a summer's day. He speaks of 'rough winds' and 'darling buds'. Obviously, we need to look at the summer of the northern hemisphere. Usually it is a short season that can become unbearably hot. Clear images of summer are seen in words like 'lease' and 'date'. While the words reminds us of a contract by which a person allows another to use his property for a certain time, we can clearly see the poet is comparing summer to having a contract and the period for which the property is leased is far too short. This gives us an indication of how the poet feels: like summer, his patron's life was also far too short.

Second Quatrain

The poet now describes the sun, the "eye of the heaven" with its "golden complexion". It is dazzling and brilliant. It provides light and heat, but on a cloudy day, the sun is dimmed, and its light and heat cannot penetrate through the clouds. His friend is not like that. Death will not affect the effect he had on the poet, like clouds affect the sun's effect on a summer's day.

Time in the poem is described as the arch enemy of beauty. Beauty degenerates with time, accidentally or as a result of the laws of nature. It fades with age. Everyone is born to die and cannot escape this gradual process. It 'changes nature's course untrimmed'.

There is a tone of disparagement because in comparing summer with his patron, the poet makes summer seem of little value or importance.

Third Quatrain

His friend's claim to immortality can be seen and we realize his worth will never fade or die. The poet no longer depreciates the natural summer. He reveals his joy at the eternal summer of his patron. He reveals his absolute certainty that his friend will be remembered to time indefinite. His patron will last while summer will come to an end, and so it seems, Summer has less worth. His patron's "eternal summer" is a metaphor for the best period of his patron's life, when he is at the peak of his achievements and has earned the highest status.

When Shakespeare speaks of "eternal lines", we realize that no-one can ever attain true immortality. Death is personified as the ruler of the underworld where the 'shades' or spirits of the dead roam aimlessly. Instead of passing into the obscurity of death, his friend will live on in this poem. He will never be forgotten. Death will not be able to brag of another famous man who has entered his Kingdom.

The couplet

The last two lines emphasize that his patron's worthiness has been immortalized in the lines of this poem. He will never be forgotten during the passing of time. Shakespeare is confident of his superior ability of creative power. He believes in his own work and this poem. The poem gives his friend new life every time it is read.