A presentation about an English Literature; life of Shakespeare and his Sonnet 18

1. By William
Shakespeare
SONNET 18

2. How does it feel to have
someone immortalize your
beauty moreover, it was done
by someone you love?

3. About the Author
 Name: William Shakespeare
 Occupation: English poet, playwright, and actor
 Birth: 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon (his
birthday is most commonly celebrated on the
23rd of April
 Spouse: He married Anne Hathaway at the age
of eighteen
 Children: The first daughter Susanna, and
the twins, Hamnet and Judith
 Death: Died in 1616
Reference: William Shakespeare Biography. (n.d.). Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-
shakespeare/william-shakespeare-biography/

4. About the Author
• Shakespeare's career jump-started in London.
Shakespeare's twins were baptized in 1585, and by 1592
his reputation was established in London, but the
intervening years are considered a mystery. Scholars
generally refer to these years as ‘The Lost Years’.
• During his time in London, Shakespeare’s first printed
works were published. They were two long poems,
'Venus and Adonis' (1593) and 'The Rape of Lucrece'
(1594).
Reference: William Shakespeare Biography. (n.d.). Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-
shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/william-shakespeare-biography/

5. • He also became a founding member of The Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, a company of actors. Shakespeare was
the company's regular dramatist, producing on average two
plays a year, for almost twenty years.
• He remained with the company for the rest of his career, during
which time it evolved into The King’s Men under the
patronage of King James I (from 1603). During his time in the
company Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous
tragedies, such as King Lear and Macbeth, as well as great
romances, like The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.
About the Author
Reference: William Shakespeare Biography. (n.d.). Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-
shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/william-shakespeare-biography/

6. The Piece – Sonnet 18

7. Poem Structure
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
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;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
A
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First Quatrain (abab)
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Second Quatrain (cdcd)
Third Quatrain (efef)
Fourth Quatrain (gg)
IAMBIC PENTAMETER

8. First Quatrain Analysis
Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more
temperate:
Rough winds do the darling
buds of May,

9. First Quatrain Analysis
In the first line, the poet attempted to compare his beloved to a
summer’s day. The second line expresses that even if summer is
the loveliest of seasons, his lover is beyond its beauty and is
mild. The third and fourth lines explained more features of
summer—saying that it is not friendly to the young and that
summer ends and another season will soon come. This explains
his lover is not as forceful and not as extreme as the summer’s
vibe; instead, the lover was described to have an infinite beauty.

10. Second Quatrain Analysis
Sometime too hot the eye of
heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion
dimm’d;
And every fair from fair
sometime declines,

11. Second Quatrain Analysis
This quatrain expands on the comparison between the
lover’s beauty and summer. The first line described the sun
as being too hot. The second line added that the sun may be
blocked by a cloud and our eyes may not witness its
magnificence. The third and fourth lines reflected on the
first two lines declaring that beauty fades and nothing can
truly change that, not even luck nor nature.

12. Third Quatrain Analysis
But thy eternal summer shall not
fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair
thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou
wander’st in his shade,

13. Third Quatrain Analysis
The second quatrain focuses on the finite aspects of
summer. Now the third quatrain contrasted the ephemeral
feature. The first line contradicted the finiteness, that his
beloved’s beauty will never fade. The second line further
explained that she will not become less lovely. The last two
lines then said that even death will never claim her beauty.
That is because this poetry is a memento made to mark the
everlasting beauty of his beloved.

14. Final Couplet Analysis
So long as men can breathe,
or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this
gives life to thee.

15. Final Couplet Analysis
The poet ended his poem with a reminder and a
summary of what he wants to express to his
lover. This is to immortalize his masterpiece
that as long as a person is alive, the poem will
be read. The poem will always be recognized
and the poem will live. The beauty will remain.

16. Speaker:
The Author

17. Tone:
Endearing,
Deep devotion for
a lover

18. Theme:
• Love
• Literature and Writing
• Time
• Man and the Natural
World

19. Unfamiliar Words
• Thee/Thou – You
• Art – Are
• Hath – Has
• Thy – Your
• Untimm’d – Unadorned,
lacking ornament
• Ow’st – Owns
• Temperate – moderate or self-restrained

20. Figure of Speech
Metaphors:
• “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
• “Thou art more lovely and more temperate?”
Personification:
• “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May”
• “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines”
• “Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade”
Anaphora:
• “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”

21. Message and Moral of the
Sonnet
This sonnet was made to express the perspective who only sees the positivity of the
beauty of someone he loves. Just like the saying, “The beauty is in the eye of the
beholder.” Focusing on the lover, the poet reminds her that being the way that she
was is enough to prove that he is right, and to prove that he is right he made this
poem. The poem then became a symbol of love that comes in a lifetime and every
pure thought has been expressed that the magnificence will become eternal.
If you encounter the first stages of being in love, you will certainly view its beauty to
be infinite. You will only see the good sides of it—the feelings of butterfly or floating,
the feelings of unexplainable happiness. And you will somehow make a way to prove
your love by endorsing yourself to be a good partner to that particular someone. You
will realize that you are unconsciously expressing delicate words. That is how I
imagined Shakespeare while composing this romantic sonnet.

22. Relevance to Today’s
Situation
The contemporary world has its new established standards. The criteria
for being beautiful have reached their boundaries that make an
individual question his or her worth. And because of that, our mental
health was gravely affected. Many symposiums, seminars, and articles
were made to become a reminder of one’s worth. This sonnet is a perfect
example of making a way or path of loving yourself. One’s beauty cannot
be compared to any metaphors because it is made to be unique. Our
beauty is within ourselves, our beauty is made to be seen, and the very
important person to witness, understand, and appreciate that beauty is
yourself. Well, it would be lovely if it is appreciated by someone you love.
But do not forget that yourself loves you too.

23. Thoughts to Ponder
• Do you agree that this sonnet proved that the love of
the person avoided death and achieved immortality?
• In modern times, in what ways will you praise your
beloved?