Contrasting Sonnets 18 and 116 by William Shakespeare. 'Shall I compare thee...' and 'Let me not.'

The two poems I will be comparing and contrasting in this essay are two of William Shakespeare's most famous sonnets. Sonnets numbered 18, 'Shall I compare thee...' and 116, 'Let me not.' Both of these poems deal with the subject of love but each poem deals with its subject matter in a slightly different manner. Each also has a different audience and purpose. In the case of 'Shall I compare thee...' the audience is …

…fully understand it. I believe that what Shakespeare is trying to say is that love's worth will forever remain a mystery. In the final two lines Shakespeare, one again, uses the rhyming couplet to summarise the sonnet. He is so sure of this ever-fixed mark that he is willing to stake his writing on it. He is even prepared to claim that if this love does not exist then no one has ever really loved.