Sonnet 18 is perhaps the most well known sonnet in American culture. Here, Shakespeare is comparing the young man to a summer’s day. Yet, rather than saying how he is like summer, like we would expect, he says how the young man is nothing like summer. There are things about summer that aren’t perfect: it is too short, it can sometimes be too hot, it is not always bright, and like all good things, it comes to an end. What Shakespeare is trying to say through all this is that summer is not perfect, and Mr. W.H is, so they can’t be compared. Line 9 says “But thy eternal summer shall not fade”. Unlike summer, the young man’s beauty will never fade. The sonnet ends with “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. Again, Shakespeare is talking about things lasting eternally. This seems to be a common theme for his sonnets. Shakespeare says that by writing this for the young man, he will never be forgotten. This talk of having a legacy again reminds us of how a child would help Mr. W.H.’s beauty to last forever.
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