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 summers 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 summers day?

(Sonnet 18)
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Shall I compare thee to a summers day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summers lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or natures changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

10

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst,

11

Nor shall death brag thou wandrest in his shade,

12

When in eternal lines to Time thou growst.

13

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

14

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Answer these questions when done with your interpretative

comments:
How does Shakespeare
make the woman he loves
sound more appealing?

He compares her to a summers day which he describes as

beautiful and relaxing.

What does the metaphor

mean in line 9?

She will stay more beautiful because he wrote a poem about

her that will continue through time.

Shakespeare portrays the

woman he loves as
ATTRACTIVE. Provide ONE
example from the poem
that gives evidence to
support this idea. Cite
specific evidence and
explain.

In line 2 he says, Thou art more lovely and more temperate

which shows that he thinks she is beautiful and that she is
calm and kind.

Which statement explains

how Shakespeare uses
figurative language in lines
5 & 6? Highlight one
answer.

a. Summer is always the best time of year.

b. The sun is personified to show that summer can have really
hot
days and also sometimes cloudy days.
c. The sun is meant to seem like it is making sounds and
annoying
people.
d. He is comparing his love to a cloudy day.

Shakespeare uses
personification to portray
the SEASONS as
threatening. Provide ONE
example from the poem
that gives evidence to
support this idea. Cite
specific evidence and
explain.

In line 3 it says Rough winds do shake the darling buds of

May which he means that winds are destroying things.

Which theme does summer

represent in the poem?
Highlight one answer.

a.
b.
c.
d.

How does the repetition of

I think that he chose to repeat words in the last lines to

Its better to be beautiful than smart.

Sometimes change is hard to see.
Beauty can last forever in a poem.
Pain lessens as time goes on.

words and concepts in the

last two lines contribute to
the meaning of the poem?
Do you notice any other
repetition? Why do you
think he chose to repeat
those words?

emphasize the words as long the poem is read she will be

remembered.

Shakespeare writes his sonnets with a specific rhyme scheme, called iambic
pentameter: