English IV, Period 3
Mrs. Parsons
February 6, 2012
Comparing and Contrasting Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and “Sonnet 130”
Many men find different things that attract them to certain women. In “Sonnet 18” and “Sonnet 130” William Shakespeare uses two different approaches to describe two opposite women he loves.
Even through the poems are very much alike the poems also have very different. Shakespeare starts off with a passionate tone as he describes his love as a “summer’s Day”. He states that she far prettier because a summer’s day is imperfect thing. He describes summer has “Too Hot” and having
“Rough Winds”. He then takes on a more concerned tone when he says his love will never fade “But thy eternal summer shall not fade”.
“In Sonnet 130” Shakespeare takes a much different approach when he describes his lover. Shakespeare starts off with a critical tone as he describes his lover’s eyes as “Nothing like the sun” and her lips as “not as red as coral”. He uses visual/sight imagery to describes her hair as “black wires” and uses smell imagery to describe her breath as “reeking
“In Sonnet 18 the shifts changes between lines 12 and 13. The tone shifts from one of compassion/concern to hopefulness. He uses hopefulness when he states that as long as this poem lives “this gives life to thee”. This means even when she is gone she will still be remember in his poem for her beauty.
In “Sonnet 130” has a swift change between lines 12 and 13 too. The tone is critical/objective but then shifts to a loving tone. He describes his love for her as “rare” and that even though she may be less than perfect he loves her anyway.
In conclusion the theme of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” and “Sonnet 18” are very similar topics but have very different themes. The theme of “Sonnet 130” is that as long as Shakespeare’s poem lives on his love will never fade but eternally live in his work. The theme of “Sonnet 18” is that even though his love may not be beautiful on the outside; he still loves her for her flaws.