Shakespeare’s Love in Sonnet 18

William Shakespeare is known for his beloved plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, but he actually wrote more poems than plays. “Sonnet 18” is one of the most quoted poems in history and most remembered. William Shakespeare uses rhyme, personification, metaphor, and tone in “Sonnet 18” to describe his everlasting love for his wife. One of “Sonnet 18’s” most prominent literary devices is rhyme. An example of rhyme scheme in “Sonnet 18” is at the beginning of the poem lines 1-4 where it says,

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:...

This is an example of an abab rhyme scheme format where day and May and “a” and temperate and date are “b.” This type of writing adds to that theme of the writer’s love for his wife. By the connection of these lines it shows his love that she is a beautiful as a summer’s day. Another example of rhyme scheme is in lines 5-8 where it says, Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm'd; and every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;... This is displaying a cdcd rhyme scheme format where shines and declines is “c” and dimm’d and untrimm’d is “d” This type of writing shows how the light of summer and of beauty will decline one day. Also in “Sonnet 18” another type of rhyme is a couplet. An example of that in “Sonnet 18” in lines 13-14 where it says, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / so long lives this and this gives life to thee.” In the couplet “see” and “thee” are rhyming and gives new meaning to these two lines. These last two lines of the poem give another meaning to the whole poem. They show how as long as people can read this poem Shakespeare hopes that the poem can keep his beloved wife’s memory alive. The couplet in lines 13-14 is also an example of the literary devices personification.

Personification is used subliminally throughout “Sonnet 18” The last two lines of the poem are a big example of personification, it says, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / so long lives this and this gives life to thee.”

Shakespeare is saying that as long as people can read this poem, he hopes that it will keep her memory alive. This is giving human characteristics to the whole entire poem because he wants the poem to keep his wife’s memory alive. The next example of personification in this poem is in line 3 where it says “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,...” This line explains how the wind is shaking the beautiful flowers of May.

This is showing personification where it states that the winds are shaking the beautiful flowers of May. The final example of personification in “Sonnet 18” is in line 11 where it states “Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,...” In this line Shakespeare is explaining how “Death” will not take her away from him. He doesn't want her to die and is acting like “Death” is a person and is giving “Death” human charactics. There is not a lot of personification in “Sonnet 18”, but there not a lot of metaphor.

Metaphor is used sparingly in “Sonnet 18” The first example of metaphor in “Sonnet 18” is the very first line where it says, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Shakespeare is asking if he should compare his beloved wife to a summer’s day. He is comparing his beloved wife to a summer’s day because of her beauty and a summer day’s beauty. The final example of a metaphor in this poem is in line 9 where it says, “But thy eternal summer shall not fade...” Once again he is comparing his beloved wife to summer. He does not want summer to fade away and in the same sense he does not want his wife to die.

Shakespeare's love for his wife is illustrated through his carefully crafted metaphors. Tone is arguably the most important literary device in “Sonnet 18” A good example of tone in “Sonnet 18” is in line 1 where it says, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” Shakespeare is asking if he should compare his beloved wife to a summer’s day. This is showing the overall tone of the poem which is love. Also in line 2 Shakespeare is expressing the overall tone of the poem which again is love for his beloved wife, it says, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate:” He is saying that his beloved wife is more lovely and constant. He is showing this overall tone of love because he is saying how great and beautiful she is. The last example is in lines 13-14 where it states, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee.” Shakespeare is saying that as long as people can live and read this poem that he hopes this poem will let his beloved wife’s memory live on. These two lines sum up his love for his beloved wife and tie into this overall tone of love. This love tone ties into the rest of the literary devices which were previously stated.

These literary devices of rhyme, personification, metaphor, and tone all tie into each other and help Shakespeare get his love across to his wife. “Many have tried to turn the sonnets into a kind of autobiography of Shakespeare...but few if any direct conclusions about the facts of Shakespeare’s life can be drawn from the poems”. However “Sonnet 18” is one of Shakespeare’s few poems that can give the reader a glimpse into Shakespeare's life.