William Shakespeare's sonnet 18 is a classic example of the Shakespearean sonnet form, consisting of 14 lines with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. The sonnet also employs several literary devices to convey its message and theme.
One literary device used in the sonnet is imagery. The speaker compares the beauty of the subject of the sonnet to a summer's day, saying that "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May" and "And summer's lease hath all too short a date." The comparison to a summer's day not only conveys the subject's beauty, but also implies that it is fleeting and temporary, as summer eventually comes to an end.
Another literary device found in the sonnet is personification, as the speaker attributes human qualities to inanimate objects. For example, the speaker says that "death's second self" (a metaphor for the grave) "desolate" and "devours," giving the grave a sense of agency and malevolence.
The sonnet also includes a metaphor in the phrase "death's second self," which compares the grave to a person's second self, or alter ego. This metaphor highlights the finality and inevitability of death, as it is a force that ultimately consumes and claims everyone.
The sonnet also employs the literary device of repetition in the phrase "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see." This repetition emphasizes the timelessness and enduring nature of the subject's beauty, as it will continue to be admired as long as there are people to appreciate it.
In conclusion, Shakespeare's sonnet 18 uses imagery, personification, metaphor, and repetition to convey its theme of the enduring nature of beauty. The speaker compares the subject's beauty to a summer's day, personifies the grave as death's second self, uses a metaphor to compare the grave to a person's alter ego, and repeats the phrase "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see" to emphasize the timelessness of the subject's beauty. These literary devices combine to create a powerful and memorable poem that celebrates the enduring nature of beauty.
Sonnet 18
This is showing the overall tone of the poem which is love. The following lines contain imagery: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd Can you pull out any words that appeal to the five senses? Shakespeare flooded the 14 lines of sonnet 18 with imagery, allegory, personification, metaphors, and hyperboles, etc. One technique Shakespeare uses to emphasize this message is figurative language. Both brilliant allegories have many similarities in their massages despite being written almost three hundred years apart Fair Sometimes Declines Literary Devices When going through all 154 sonnets Shakespeare wrote, it was difficult to specifically pick one that was eye catching. It is the genius with which he approaches the available poetic devices that produces his poetic technique. Which reflects the pastoral style of poetry he uses in the first line.
Shakespearean Sonnet: Definition and Form
The next line continues the same comparison. A metaphor, which is a comparison between two things without using 'like' or 'as,' is used to compare the woman to a summer day. So will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all. However, when Iago is alone and expressing himself with only the audience hearing him his language is something completely different. When the renaissance reached England in its real sense in the sixteenth century, sonnet form also came along. That is an indication that the poet is sitting under a tree enjoying the scenery on a hot afternoon. This is the sonnet's prevailing metaphor and theme, as the entirety of the poem continues with this first line's metaphor.
Shakespeare's Poetic Techniques & Devices✔️
Symbolism and Imagery in the Sonnet 18 The poet uses metaphor and personification to bring life to the Sonnet 18. Shakespeare employs the use of metaphor, imagery, personification, hyperbole, and repetition as literary devices in "Sonnet 18". In the third line of the quatrain, the speaker makes another promise with his beloved. It is believed that William Shakespeare was born in the Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom on April 23, 1554, to his parents John and Mary Shakespeare. Another common literary device is poetic conceits, but it is Shakespeare's metaphors and similes that have made them nearly immortal, as he himself suggested. Many other poets like Sidney and Henry Howard followed the same pattern and anglicized it by introducing quatrains in it.
