Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18, often called "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day," ranks among the most famous of William Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. In it, the speaker wonders whether to compare the Fair Youth to a summer's day, then decides the youth surpasses it—a central theme.

The poem notes that a summer day's qualities are fleeting and will eventually fade. The speaker declares that the Fair Youth will live forever within the poem's lines, as long as the poem is read. An irony emerges: it is not the actual young man who gains immortality, but the poem's description of him—and that description contains little to no detail about the young man, instead offering vivid, lasting images of a summer day, which the youth is meant to outlast.

Structure

Structurally, Sonnet 18 is a standard English or Shakespearean sonnet: 14 lines of iambic pentameter, arranged as three quatrains followed by a couplet. Its rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

The poem follows the rhetorical tradition of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which often discussed a beloved's love and beauty, sometimes unattainable. It also features a volta, or shift in subject, beginning with the third quatrain. The couplet's first line shows regular iambic pentameter: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see."

Context

The poem belongs to the Fair Youth sequence (sonnets 1–126, based on the 1609 first edition). It is the first sonnet after the opening procreation sonnets, though some scholars argue it is part of that group, since it addresses achieving eternal life through writing—a theme found in sonnets 15–17. In this view, it marks a transition to sonnet 20's focus on time.

Analysis

In line six, "complexion" has two possible meanings: the face's outward appearance compared to the sun ("the eye of heaven") in the previous line, or the older sense related to the four humours. In Shakespeare's time, "complexion" carried both outer and inner meanings, as did "temperate" (externally a weather condition, internally a balance of humours). The second meaning suggests the beloved's inner, cheerful, and balanced disposition is constant, unlike the sun, which clouds can hide. The first meaning is more obvious: a negative change in his looks.

"Untrimmed" in line eight also has two interpretations: loss of decoration and frills, or untrimmed sails on a ship. The first suggests beautiful things naturally lose their fanciness over time.