Shall I Compare Thee by William Shakespeare- Essay

Shall I Compare Thee

             “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is a sonnet by William Shakespeare. This is his 18^th among 154 sonnets. With the renowned writing style and techniques, Shakespeare has this love poem remarkable.

            The title “Shall I compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” partially conveys the theme of the appreciation of beauty, and the sense of falling in love. The speaker begins the poem  by asking whether he should compare the lady to a summer day. He says that his beloved is lovely which is conveyed through words like ‘warm, fair, sunny and temperate’. Some critics argue that this poem is addressed to his beloved patron Earl of Southampton.

Next, the poet lists the reasons why summer is not all that great. The winds shake the buds that emerged in Spring, summer ends too quickly, and the sun can get too hot or be obscured by clouds. Everything beautiful fades by chance or by nature’s inevitable changes. But, he argues that his happy, beautiful years will not go away. Like this, her beauty also will not fade away. Moreover, death will never be able to take the beloved, since the beloved exists in the eternal lines of this poetry. The speaker concludes that as long as humans exist, his writing will live on. Like this his love also will survive forever.

            This sonnet follows the rhyme scheme of ‘abab cdcd efef gg’. Shakespeare has used personifications like “golden complexion”, ‘eye of heaven’ to convey the meaning effectively. The relevance of the theme, even today, has made the poem immortal.

On His Blindness By Milton- Essay

On His Blindness

John Milton’s  “On His Blindness” is an autobiographical sonnet in which the poet meditates on his own loss of sight. The loss of sight metaphorically means inner sight and the loss of it.

Milton compares his vision to be like treasure which has been lying with him unused. ‘That one talent which is Death to hide’ is a reference to the Parable “The talents from Mathews”. The poet also expresses his desire to be able to use his poetic skills at the service of God. A bent soul is a metaphor to express the eagerness of the soul to serve God constantly.

 Milton is frustrated that his lack of sight is preventing him from serving God. The poet’s 'true account' refers to his religious poetry. He considers it a serious duty to write poetry in praise of God since he is gifted with the skill of writing poetry. This passage is a reference to the Judgment day in which every human soul will be resurrected to be rewarded or punished based on the good deeds and sins.  

Milton wonders if God still expects him to keep writing without his sight. Then he concludes that God is more forgiving and He would not expect anything. In fact, God does not need man’s praise since thousands of angels are at his service.  But it is the responsibility of the man to serve Him. Duty and submissiveness are the need of the hour. One must not lose patience. Instead one must accept pain and suffering and surrender to God. The poet is also convinced that his blindness and the wait is a way to serve Him.

This sonnet is written in the “Petrarchan” rhyme – abba, abba, cde, cde.