British Literature; Shakespeare's Sonnets - Essay Example

Sur The language Shakespeare chooses in his sonnets brings out the honest most people find hard to accept. The mere truththat is hard to ignore is what Shakespeare enshrines into the 18 sonnets the honesty of love, true love. Captivated by the tenderness of the lover, driven by the need to continue forever, Shakespeare immortalizes the person he describes in this sonnet. It is true that the theme of love is a significant aspect of most if not all of Shakespeare’s sonnets. However, the attribute of immortality predominate in this particular sonnet giving it a vivid truth that many people ignore to see in the world today.

As the matters of love dominate in most of his sonnets, love is also a dominant phenomenon in everyday life. The aspect of love and vivid description of lovers in Shakespeare’s sonnets keeps them alive and close to or at the reality of most of the people.Shakespeare does not waste words in this sonnet for he fears to degrade the lover by comparing her to summer. He projects that she is “more lovely” and “temperate” than the summer that he sees to be rougher (Shakespeare 1). Either, summer is hot for its sun and causes fear at night something that is incomparable to his lover.

However, the fear of it all is the preoccupation that summer does not have the ability to last longer that the beloved can. Even though some may consider summer beautiful, its beauty can fade for what he describes to be an “accident” or “course of nature.” The kind of beauty the lover has is a type that cannot be lost easily, nor can “death brag” of drowning it(Shakespeare 10). As long as this beauty is trapped in the lyrics of this sonnet, men will continue cherishing it. However, what makes this “love” to be more interesting is the fact that he immortalizes the lover.

Most of the time in the experiences of live people dreams of keeping their love to live along their length of the live time (Carlsen and Gilbert 23). Just like the summer of the sonnet, the beauty they taught they saw in these people becomes rough and wishes to reverse the reality. Even worse, for some, death is a fair remedy to their love problems (Kirchmayer 43). Yet, Shakespeare found it difficult to ignore the reality of love as felt, to the extent of immortalizing it. Subtracting the element of this sonnet leaves it empty just as subtracting love from the life perspective leaves it meaningless.

Love does a crucial part of many people’s lives without it people are strangers (K. Kirchmayer 43). It forms the most desirable ingredient in this sonnet making it interesting and realistic. In the world where people are troubled with love, this aspect makes it more pragmatic to fit the current readers. Therefore, without this crucial ingredient, the beauty of this immortal lover as enshrined in this poem could have faded away (Carlsen and Gilbert 23). Removing the theme of love from this poem will not only kill the sonnet but also the lover he seeks to immortalize.

Indeed, love is a crucial thing that conquers all great and small alike. It predominates in sonnet 18 of Shakespeare to the extent he inscribes his lover in a poem for intentions of keeping him in the minds of many in ages to come. Not only does these forms an inspiration point in this poem, but also an excellent source of motivation for the audience. For Shakespeare, it is a wish well achieved. Works CitedCarlsen, G. Robert, and Miriam Gilbert. British and Western Literature: A Thematic Approach.

Webster Division, McGraw-Hill, 1985. Print.Kirchmayer. An Interpretation of Sonnet Nr. 18 by Shakespeare: “Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day?” GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print.Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Ticknor and Fields, 1865. Print.