AZoia – Textual Analysis Practice: SONNET XVIII, Shakespeare

 

EXERCISES FROM PAGES 138-139 FROM THE LITERATURE BOOK

 

EX. 1

a.

the pronoun “thee” refers to the “fair youth”.

 

b.

The poet compares him to a summer’s day.

 

c.

Summer is perturbed by violent winds

Summer is too short

Summer is sometimes too hot

Summer’s beauty is only temporary

 

d.

Shakespeare’s lover is lovelier than summer because his beauty will never fade but rather, it will keep growing. Also, Death shall not brag if the lover dies, because it would be a shame.

 

e.

Even more than beauty, what makes the lover eternal is the poet’s love for him.

 

 

 

EX. 2

a.

The second and third line both begin with “And” in the second stanza and with “Nor” in the third stanza.

 

b.

The subject of the second stanza is summer, while the subject of the third stanza is the “Fair Youth”.

 

c.

The linker “but” at the beginning of the third stanza marks the passage from the subject of summer to the subject of the poet’s lover, introducing the contrast of the differences between the two subjects.

 

 

EX. 3

- “eye of heaven” refers to the sun.

- “thy eternal summer” refers to the beauty the Fair Youth possesses.

 

 

EX. 4

- “eye of heaven” is a kenning

- “Death” is a personification based on the figure of the Grim Reaper/Death

 

EX. 5

- “eternal summer” stands for the Fair Youth’s beauty.

- “eternal lines” stands for the lines that the poet writes about him, which are the expression of his love, that will remain alive until the end of time.

 

EX. 6

1) people 2) read 3) end 4) poem 5) eternal

 

EX. 7

	Rhyme scheme and main figures of speech	Sentence structure	Subject matter
QUATRAIN 1	Similes   A-B-A-B	Question and explanation	Introduction: comparison between Shakespeare’s lover and summer
QUATRAIN 2	Kenning, repetition   C-D-C-D	Main clause,	The characteristics of summer
QUATRAIN 3	Metaphor, personification, repetition   E-F-E-F	“but” introduces , coordinated sentences (“Nor”), time clause	Conclusion: the young lover and his ever-lasting beauty
COUPLET	Repetition   G-G	Time clause (so long… so long...)	Conclusion: poetry will make the young man’s beauty immortal

 

EX. 8

 

Since the beginning of its history the human race has always craved eternal life and up to now, the researchers have not stopped looking for a way to achieve it.

There are many popular tales, myths and legends as of how to achieve immortality, and this interesting topic is very often debated in literature.

An example is the famous “The Picture Of Dorian Grey” book, by Oscar Wilde, speaks about a handsome, young, but morally corrupt Dorian Gray who has his portrait made, butas the years pass, he does not age while evidence of his sins appearon his portrait, growing uglier with each transgression. He keeps it safely hidden in his attic, but his mysterious behaviour and ageless appearance begin to attract suspicion.

 

 

ANALYSIS OF TITLE, LAYOUT AND STRUCTURE OF THE SONNET XVIII BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

 

Considering the title, the intelligent reader immediately understands that the language used is not going to be a “modern” one but rather, an antique one from the presence of the form “shall” instead of should and “thee” instead of you.

From the title we can imagine the atmosphere that might reoccur during the poem, which is a rather romantic and sweet one. By comparing someone to a summer’s say you’re generally complimenting him or her, so we can understand that the poet is complimenting someone he cares about, very likely his lover.

 

The layout of the one of a Shakespearean sonnet: a lyrical form of poetry of fourteen lines organised into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

The rhyme scheme is the following:

A

B

A

B

 

C

D

C

D

 

E

F

E

F

 

G

G