PART 2

1. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Q: Why did the poet compare his lover to the summer’s day?

A: In England, summer is not hot but comfortably warm. It is the most pleasant season of

the year.

2. Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Q: What does “temperate” mean?

A: It means gentle, soft and mild.

3.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

4. And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Q: What do the underlined words mean?

A: rough: violent; terrible

darling: lovely, dear, charming

lease: Here it is figuratively used, meaning “lifetime”.

hath: old use for “has”

date: period of time

Analysis:

In the first quatrain Shakespeare begins his comparison between the young man and nature by comparing the young man to a summer’s day. It opens with a metaphoric question “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Actually, the speaker is doubtful whether he should compare the young man to a summer’s day, because he states in line two of the sonnet “Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. That shows the young man is far more beautiful than a summers day. The poet uses personification and metaphor in lines three and four: “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, /and summer’s lease hath all too short a date”. By using personification and metaphor, the speaker suggests that summer has taken out a lease on the weather, which must be returned at the end of the summer. These two lines explain why the young man’s beauty is greater than that of a summer’s day. This quatrain is very complimentary to the young man’s beauty and shows Shakespeare’s deep admiration and love for the young man.

5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

Q: What do these two lines mean?

A: Sometimes the sun shines too hot, and its golden brightness is often covered or darkened by clouds.

7. And every fair from fair sometime declines,

8. By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;

Q: What do these two lines mean?

A: Everything beautiful may lose its beauty. The beauty may be destroyed unexpectedly or by the law of change (the normal order of change) in the natural world.

Analysis:

In the second quatrain, the speaker states that the sun in summer is either too hot or overcast by clouds, but the youth is still “temperate” and his beauty will never be overcast. The poet makes a comparison between the youth and the sun through his personification of the sun. The sun is too hot but the youth is temperate. The sun’s golden complexion may be hidden by clouds but the youth’s beauty and golden complexion are never hidden. In Lines seven and eight “And every fair from fair sometime declines, /by chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d”, the speaker makes it clear that all beautiful things fade away with the passage of time, but the beauty of the youth will never be fading away.

9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Q: What does eternal summer refer to?

A: It refers to immortal youthfulness (metaphor).

10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Q: What is “ow’st” ?

A: It is old-fashioned for “own”.

11. Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

Q: What does “Death” refer to?

A: It is a personified way to say the destroyer of life.

12.When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st

Q: What do the underlined words refer to?

A: eternal lines: immortal lines of poetry such as the lines in this poem

to time thou gro’st: you’ll grow together with time, just as time that lasts forever

Analysis:

The third quatrain of the sonnet shows that the youth is different from the summer; “Thy eternal summer shall not fade …” His beauty will last forever and never die. The poet changes his tone with a “But” in this quatrain into a more expansive tone and deeper feeling. After explaining how summer is an inadequate comparison to the beauty of the youth in the previous quatrain, Shakespeare continues to explain his promise to the youth and he is going to save the youth from the fate of fading away: “But thy eternal summer shall not fade …” In lines eleven and twelve: “Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade. /When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st”, the poet introduces death through personification and metaphor. Death can’t claim the young man because he forever remains immortal in Shakespeare’s poetry.

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

14.So long live this, and this gives life to thee.

Q: What do these two lines mean and what does “this” refer to?

A: As long as there is man living in this world, as long as man’s eyes can see things, this poem will be eternal and it will also make you immortal. “This” refers to this poem.

Analysis:

In the couplet，the speaker uses a parallel structure to state that as long as humans live，his poetry will survive，and，in turn，the youth’s beauty will live on forever in the poem. “So long as men can breathe，or eyes can see，/So long lives this，and this gives life to thee. ” The speaker uses personification and metaphor in these two lines. As long as the poem is read by someone，his beauty will never fade，and the reader will be undoubtedly reminded of his beauty.

Translation:

我怎么能够把你来比作夏天？

你不独比它可爱也比它温婉。

狂风把五月宠爱的嫩蕊作践，

夏天出赁的期限又未免太短；

天上的眼睛有时照得太酷烈，

它那炳耀的金颜又常遭掩蔽；

被机缘或无常的天道所摧折，

没有芳艳不终于雕残或销毁。

但是你的长夏永远不会雕落，

也不会损失你这皎洁的红芳；

或死神夸口你在他影里漂泊，

当你在不朽的诗里与时同长。

只要一天有人类，或人有眼睛，

这诗将长存，并且赐给你生命。

Theme:

A profound meditation on the destructive power of time and the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves.

A nice summer’s day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last forever. Thus Shakespeare has a faith in the permanence of poetry.