Shakespeare 18

Sonnet #18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" -- William Shakespeare Mood: Cheerful, praising, awestruck, confident Theme: True beauty is immortalized through art and thus prevails despite the ravages of time. Structure: Lines 1-9, 10-14 In sonnet #18, William Shakespeare reveals that through art, true beauty is immortalized and thus surmounts the ravages of time. The poet expresses an awestruck, confident and praising attitude towards his subject to convey his idea that his mistress is …

…epitomized in art as "long as men can breathe or eyes can see" and this sense of timelessness is executed once again in perfect iambic pentameter with caesura to tie the ideas together. This serves to further illustrate the poet's boasting and confident attitude regarding the perfection of the mistress. As long as there are seeing eyes on earth she will never die, rather, her perfection in the art of poetry "gives life to thee."