DIRECTIONS: Summer is a warm, delightful time of year often associated with rest and

recreation. Shakespeare uses figurative language to compare “his love” to a “summer’s

day” in Sonnet 18. Use the COMMENT button to interpret his poem line-by-line and
annotate the poem with at least 5 comments. Right-click on a word and click “Define
__” to read a definition to help you. Then, answer the questions that follow on page 2.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

1 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

2 Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Commented [1]: Shakespeare is saying that his love is
more beautiful than a summer's day.
3 Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
4 And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
5 Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
6 And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
7 And every fair from fair sometime declines,
8 By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; Commented [2]: I think these lines are saying that
everything eventually comes to an end, and that
9 But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nothing, no matter how beautiful, is forever.

10 Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Commented [3]: I think these lines are adding upon
the lines before it, because Shakespeare is saying that
11 Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, his love's beauty will last forever.

12 When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. Commented [4]: This line is saying that his love will
last forever, hence the use of the word "eternal".
13 So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
14 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Commented [5]: This line means that, now that
Shakespeare has written this poem, that his love for
the woman will be eternal.
 Answer these questions when done with your interpretative comments:
How does Shakespeare He compares her to a wonderful summer’s day. Most
make the woman he people like summer, so it is a good thing to use.
loves sound more
appealing?

What does the metaphor It means that his lover’s beauty will never fade.
mean in line 9?

Shakespeare portrays On line 2 he says that his lover as “more lovely and
the woman he loves as more temperate.” Usually if
ATTRACTIVE. Provide
ONE example from the
poem that gives
evidence to support this
idea. Cite specific
evidence and explain.

Which statement a. Summer is always the best time of year.

explains how b. The sun is personified to show that summer can have
Shakespeare uses really hot
figurative language in days and also sometimes cloudy days.
lines 5 & 6? Highlight c. The sun is meant to seem like it is making sounds and
one answer. annoying
people.
d. He is comparing his love to a cloudy day.

Which theme does a. It’s better to be beautiful than smart.

summer represent in the b. Sometimes change is hard to see.
poem? c. Beauty can last forever in a poem.
Highlight one answer. d. Pain lessens as time goes on.
What is your favorite
line of the poem? Why?

Shakespeare writes his sonnets with a specific rhyme

scheme, called iambic pentameter: