SONNET

18

1.

What is the main theme of

Sonnet 18?
love

2. According to the poet, a summers

day is _______________________
hot and short

3. Why does the poet compare his

beloved to a summers day?
A summers day is beautiful/lovely

4.

What does eye of heaven

refer to?
sun

5.

What will cause the fair in

line 7 to decline?
chance/natures changing
course

6.

What does summer symbolize in

the poem?
beauty

7.

Why is his beloved more lovely

and more temperate than a
summers day?
A summers day is too short and
sometimes too hot.

8.

What does darling buds refer to?

delicate buds

9.

Why is summer considered a

lease?
It is short last for only about
three months.

10.

What are the weaknesses of

summer?
too hot or too short

11.

What are the strengths of eternal

summer?
It is not subjected by weather
conditions, untouched by passing of
time and its beauty is everlasting.

12.Quote the line from the poem

that tells us that beauty can
fade.
And every fair from fair
sometimes decline.

13.

What does this in line 14 refer

to?
the sonnet

14. Who

is the poet addressing in

this poem?
his beloved

15. Do you think the poets beloved is

young or old? Give ONE reason.
Young because summer is a season
of youthfulness and freshness

16. What

does more temperate in

line 2 mean?
More perfect and balanced in
harmony and beauty.

17.

What will the rough winds do

to the darling buds of May
(line 3)?
shake off the young flowers or
buds.

18.

Why is his gold complexion often

dimmed?
block by the clouds

19. What will cause the fair to decline

(line 7)?
chance/natures changing course

20.

According to the poet, why will

human beauty fade?
Human beings will grow old and
eventually die.

21.What is natures changing

course (line 8)?
The changes that happen to us
as we grow older.

22. What is deaths shade (line 11)?

The dark shadow of death

23.

What does eternal summer in line 9

refer to?
The beloveds beauty and
youthfulness.

24.

Why is death so boastful?

Everyone has to die one day.

25.

How will the poet make the

beloveds beauty last forever?
by penning the poem, Sonnet
18.

26.

What is the message the poem is trying

to convey?
Although everyone will die one day, the
poets beloved will live forever through
the sonnet.

27.

What are lines 1 and 2 about?

They are about the poet talking to his
beloved and asking if he should compare
her to a summers day.

28.

Do you think the poet is being

objective or is he exaggerating
a little? Give a reason.
He is exaggerating to
emphasize the beauty of his
beloved.

29.

What is the feeling in the first

stanza?
Praising his beloved

30.

Why do you think the beloved does

not seem to have any flaws or
weaknesses?
The poet wants to show that his
beloved is perfect.

31.Why does the poet describe the sun

as the eye of heaven?
can see the whole world

32.

Why is the eye of heaven itself

not perfect?
It is sometimes dim or hot

33.What

does his gold

complexion dimmed refer to?
It refers to the clouds
covering the sun.

34. What weaknesses are further

suggested in lines 5 and 6 about
summer?
sometimes too hot or dimmed

35. How

does his beloved compare

to these weaknesses?
His beloved is far more superior

36.

What does the poet say will

happen to beautiful things?
fade away or die

37.

Do you think the beauty of nature will

last forever?
No, because it will fade.

38. What does untrimmed mean?

It means unchecked. Nothing can
stop time from passing or old age
from catching up.

39. Why does the poet begin the third

quatrain with But?
He wants to signal a change or
development in thought.

40.

According to the poet, what

does the beloved have that
summer does not have?
everlasting beauty

41.

What does Nor shall death

brag thou wandrest in his
shade (line 11) mean?
Death cannot claim his beloved.

42.

What does shade mean?

shadow or grave

43.

What does When in eternal lines to

time thou growst in line 12 mean?
One grows older with the passing of
time.

44.How can the beloveds beauty

be eternal when the beloved,

too, will grow old one day?
By putting it in words.

45. What

TWO things does eternal

lines in line 12 refer to?
i.Everyone will grow old one
day
ii.The poets sonnet

46.Who does men refer to?

all men

47.What does eyes can see refer to?

People who read the sonnet

48. Why does the poet repeat the word

this in the last line?

To emphasize the power of his
sonnet

49.

So long as men can breathe

(line13) means
______________________
as long as there are people

50.

What do the last two lines (line 13 and

14) mean?
As long as people read the poem, they
will remember his beloveds beauty.