Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare, What assumptions does the poet take to describe beauty - Essay Example

 “Sonnet 18” by Shakespeare. What assumptions does the poet take to describe beauty? Beauty is defined as a quality that affects the senses of observers. It inflicts happiness and harmony in the mind of a person. Various poets and writers have explained the word “beauty” in different ways. William Shakespeare explains beauty among women as well as nature in a very different way. The poet quotes in one of his sonnets that “to me, fair friend, you can never be old,” (Shakespeare, 78) signifies the poet’s desire of patronizing a never fading beauty that would last until the end. Sonnet 18 of Shakespeare creates a thematic meaning of beauty, which provides the reader with a perception of the way and the diction that the poet wanted to provide to the theme. The Sonnet has been one of the most powerful sonnets of the poet, as it has been linked with the other sonnets that provide a clear insight of beauty amid the youth. The youth’s excellence is well depicted by the poet with the use of verses and dialects. Additionally, the poet in most of his works has explained beauty as eternal. In this regard, the essay explains the word “beauty” as assumed by William Shakespeare in Sonnet 18. Elaboration of the word “beauty” has been also provided with the use of the perception that the poet has used to explain eternal beauty of the youth. Assumptions of Beauty in Sonnet 18. The sonnet 18 of William Shakespeare justifies the procreations sonnets, which were explaining about love towards the youth that has been influencing the poet’s lifestyle largely. The theme of sonnet 18 was majorly focused on the diction of an eternal beauty that would live for a long time and would never die. To explain the unending beauty of the youth, the poet uses certain metaphors to explain the beauty of the youth. The poet starts the Sonnet with the use of an assumption that the youth can be compared with the attractiveness of a day in the summer season. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” (Shakespeare, 130) The poet in the above lines explains that the youth is more beautiful than the summer day and even has the perfectness better than the summer temperature. The poet noted that the days during summer season are not as beautiful as the youth for unpleasant temperature as well as windiness. The poet even proclaims that the summer’s beauty can change and become fragile, but the beauty of the youth is unchangeable and would last forever (Saylor Foundation, 1). The poet claims that the beauty of the nature even fades away and keeps on changing day by day. These changes happens either in a cyclical manner as a part of the nature or accidentally. On the other hand, the poet explained that eternal beauty of the youth possesses best characteristics of the beauty of the summer’s day and will never change or fade. The author even exclaims that beauty of the youth will be alive through his sonnet forever. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and gives life to thee.” (Shakespeare, 130) The poet assumes that the youth is more beautiful than all the beauties of the nature and will never fade away even at the time of his death. As long as there is life on this world, the beauty of the youth would be alive through his poem. The poet even explains that the beauty of the youth would grow even through time and would never leave the youth. Like all other substances of the nature, the beauty of the youth would not fade away or die. Moreover, while explaining the youth’s beauty through the sonnet, the poet even suggests that the youth possesses an unending glory that does not change like the summer days. The poet even compares the beauty of the youth to be like “eternal summer” that would never dwindle (Saylor Foundation, 1). While explaining the beauty of the youth, the poet has compared the beauty of his love with all the good characteristics of beauty of nature. The warmth and brightness of summer days creates a sense of fun and serenity that has been creating a sense of beauty. Unlike, the ever-changing nature of the summer days as metaphoric in the sonnet, the beauty of the youth has been compared to be everlasting and unique. Moreover, to explain the incomparable beauty of the youth the poet assumes that the beauty would be growing in due course of time. Parallel to the effect of the bizarre winds that destroys the beauty of the summer the youth’s beauty would be everlasting. The assumptions have been taken in order to show the effect of time on the youth. Time in the sonnet is observed by the poet to be one of the biggest enemies of beauty. However, the poet claims his poetry to be a base that would keep the beauty of the youth immortal (Zinman, 1-4). Definition of Beauty. The beauty of the youth has been explained through the use of various comparison of the beauty of the nature. Beauty is generally defined as the quality that gives one pleasure to patronize the charm. This has been well explained by the use of the different metaphors that Shakespeare has used in due course to explain the beauty of the youth. Similarly, the poet tries to make the beauty of the youth immortal through the couplets of his sonnet. The beauty of the youth has influenced the author so much that the author has stated the beauty of the youth and praised it all through the sonnet. With the personification of the different elements of the nature, the poet has successfully justified beauty of the youth to be everlasting. Additionally, Shakespeare has elaborated beauty to be everlasting and incomparable (Bennett, 1-50). Shakespeare in his Sonnet 18 has explained his desire to preserve beauty of the youth and make it immortal. Beauty has been defined to be a quality that gives the poet immense pleasure to patronize throughout his life. Beauty has been explained by the poet to be everlasting and rigid that cannot be changed by any effect. Beauty as explained by the poet should be unique and outstanding that needs to be preserved until the end of mankind. The statement of beauty has been proclaimed by Shakespeare to be an exceptional demonstration of its kind and is incomparable with any other element on the earth. The beauty defined by the author must influence the thinking of mankind, as it did for the poet. The effect of the beauty should be of such a nature that it would be incomparable even with the most beautiful element of the nature (Bennett, 1-50). Beauty has been explained to be powerful that even death cannot fade away its magnanimity. The poet even entails different beautiful substances to substantiate the effect of beauty. Beauty of the youth is elaborated to be perfect and incomparable as all other elements that have been used by the poet are vulnerable either to the effect of the nature or time. The poet even exclaims that beauty should have that power to engulf the observers mind and would be able to inspire. Emphasizing youth’s beauty by the use of the extreme phrases, the poet has well justified the beauty of the youth to be everlasting and eternal. Moreover, the power of the youth beauty is defined to be surpassing the beauty of most beautiful things present in the world. The poet successfully elaborates the effect of the love has on beauty. The poet proclaims that love is observed to be eternal and beauty is used to explain the effect of love. The admiration of beauty helps in identifying the craze for love that the poet elaborates through his poem (Shakespeare, 120-132). The poet even compares beauty of the youth with “eternal summer”, as the summer keeps coming back after a normal lapse and is everlasting. Beauty is identified to be threatened to diminish with time. Unlike the beauty of the nature that is benevolent to the turbulent effects of the nature, the beauty of the youth as explained by Shakespeare is everlasting until the end of time. Later on, with the personification of death in the lines of the sonnet, the poet brings out the perishable nature of beauty. Conversely, the poet even claims that he is influenced by the beauty of the youth that he would make it immortal till the end of time through his sonnet (Shakespeare, 120-132). Beauty as explained by the poet in his sonnet is incomparable with the elements of the nature. It possesses all the quality to be immortal until the end of time and it is never threatened by the perishability nature of time. Moreover, the poet even proclaims that beauty of the youth is everlasting, would not fade with time and would not be shadowed by death. This makes the author compassionate with the youth and makes his beauty immortal through the sonnet until the end of time. Beauty is explained to unchangeable and is never affected by the changing times. The beauty as explained by the poet continues to be analyzed as well as re-analyzed in the course of time and is likely to be preserved forever through the use of his sonnet. The ambiguity of beauty has been personified by the poet as everlasting and unchangeable. The controversial nature of effect of beauty has been well proclaimed by the use of the immortality to preserve the beauty of the youth. Works Cited Bennett, Kenneth C. Threading Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Illinois: Lake Forest College, 2007. Print. Saylor Foundation. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Sonnet XVIII. 2011: 1. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Sonnets. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Zinman, Ira B. “Sonnet 18.” Shakespeare’s Sonnets and the Bible. 2009: 1-4. Print. Read More