Use of a Literary Device in "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day"
Carole A Johnson
Professor Mary Lounsbory
CTC English Composition II
30 June 2013
Use of a Literary Device in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” William Shakespeare’s sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a fourteen line poem that contains three quatrains followed by a couplet. The poem is also known as Sonnet 18, and is a beautiful poem describing just that, a summer’s day. If one wishes to be technical, Shakespeare does more than describe a summer’s day, he is comparing an individual to a summer’s day. Shakespeare uses the literary devices imagery and diction throughout the poem. Imagery is the one device that stands out the most due to Shakespeare’s intricate way of describing the summer day with such detail that the reader feels like they are there. Diction is an important literary device which I will focus on, because Shakespeare switches back and forth between abstract and concrete diction. Shakespeare used imagery to its fullest in this poem. Using the phrases summer’s day, buds of May, heaven shines, and so on... It all sounds so beautiful and the reader is able to picture all of these images as it brings a smile to the readers’ lips. While reading the poem, the gender of the person to whom Shakespeare is comparing to a summer’s day is left unknown and can easily be confused with that of a woman, although the poem gives no indication of this relationship being a romantic one. The line that strikes me as being the most beautiful is “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” (Shakespeare 76). I as the reader can just imagine a summer that never ends, and the sound of that is pleasing to the mind. Thus this is the best example of how Shakespeare used imagery in this sonnet. One that is a bit more difficult to understand is Shakespeare’s use of diction throughout the poem. Just like the rest of Shakespeare’s work, in this poem he primarily uses formal form of speech with words such as thou, thy, shall, nor. This choice of words was
Professor Mary Lounsbory
CTC English Composition II
30 June 2013
Use of a Literary Device in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” William Shakespeare’s sonnet “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a fourteen line poem that contains three quatrains followed by a couplet. The poem is also known as Sonnet 18, and is a beautiful poem describing just that, a summer’s day. If one wishes to be technical, Shakespeare does more than describe a summer’s day, he is comparing an individual to a summer’s day. Shakespeare uses the literary devices imagery and diction throughout the poem. Imagery is the one device that stands out the most due to Shakespeare’s intricate way of describing the summer day with such detail that the reader feels like they are there. Diction is an important literary device which I will focus on, because Shakespeare switches back and forth between abstract and concrete diction. Shakespeare used imagery to its fullest in this poem. Using the phrases summer’s day, buds of May, heaven shines, and so on... It all sounds so beautiful and the reader is able to picture all of these images as it brings a smile to the readers’ lips. While reading the poem, the gender of the person to whom Shakespeare is comparing to a summer’s day is left unknown and can easily be confused with that of a woman, although the poem gives no indication of this relationship being a romantic one. The line that strikes me as being the most beautiful is “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” (Shakespeare 76). I as the reader can just imagine a summer that never ends, and the sound of that is pleasing to the mind. Thus this is the best example of how Shakespeare used imagery in this sonnet. One that is a bit more difficult to understand is Shakespeare’s use of diction throughout the poem. Just like the rest of Shakespeare’s work, in this poem he primarily uses formal form of speech with words such as thou, thy, shall, nor. This choice of words was