How does Shakespeare immortalize his friend's beauty in his 'Sonnet 18'?

HOME> CLASS-XII

 

Q. How does Shakespeare immortalize his friend's beauty in his ' Sonnet 18'?

or How does the poet bring the comparison between his friend's beauty with that of Summer's beauty?

or How does Shakespeare establish the superiority of his friend's beauty in his ' Sonnet 18?

Answer: Shakespeare begins his poem with a rhetorical question and gives the answer himself. He attempts to compare his friend to a summer's day. But soon he realises that his friend's beauty is more lovely and more temperate than summer. Summer, it is true, is charming and has its pinnacle of beauty. But summer's beauty, like every earthly object, declines and despoils. Its beauty is demolished sometimes by wild winds. Moreover, summer is ephemeral. It has to leave after its brief span in the seasonal cycle. The summer sun often shines brightly and becomes insufferable. Again sometimes the atmosphere turns cooler when dark clouds hide the golden rays of the sun. The poet  is confident enough to declare that his poetry will overcome the ravages of time .His friend will live for ever through his poetry. As long as we live on this earth, we shall read the poem. Then his beauty will revive before our eyes. It will give him life. Shakespeare rejects his own idea to compare his friend's beauty to that of summer's and confers superiority to his friend's beauty,

HOME> CLASS-XII