PART 4

The sonnet starts with a question that might lead to a very ordinary conceit instead it introduces a profound meditation on time, change and beauty. Normally, to compare the beloved to the days of early summer or to the dazzling beauty of the glorious sun would be considered high praise. However, the poet considers the comparison inadequate, for just like the shortness of summer, man’s youth and beauty will fade away. Then the poet expresses a very bold idea: that beautiful things can rely on the force of literature to their eternity; and literature is created by man, thus it declares man’s eternity.

At the end of this part, finish the following assignments:

(1) Recite Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.

(2) Discuss the theme of the poem.

(3) Give a brief comment on the sonnet from different perspectives.

(4) Preview Lesson Two The Solitary Reaper.