SONNET 18 vs SONNET 60

Both sonnets share the same general idea: the immortalization of the beloved. Beauty is seen
as something that will change as time passes by; even though it is something the speaker
almost refuses to admit. Nonetheless, the speaker, in both sonnets, defies time and vows to
keep his beloved's beauty alive and well, even if it's only through the eistence of his lines.
!hen eamining these sonnets by "hakespeare, one comes to realize #ust how important life
and the passage of time are. $ike the passage of time, life, too, passes by. %ven though, they
both have their own entity, the passage of time affects life in a way that it changes the
physical appearance. &hange is a ma#or element that life and time both share as they pass by.
'hat is what "hakespeare wants to stress. (e uses many )tools) to epress the similarities and
differences between the passage of life and the passage of time. *ll kinds of figures of speech
are at his disposal and he doesn't hesitate to use any of them where he sees fit.
SONNET 60
+Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativit, once in the main of light,
!rawls to maturit, wherewith being crown"d,
!rooked elipses "gainst his glor fight,
#nd $ime that gave doth now his gift confound.
$ime doth transfi% the flourish set on outh
#nd delves the parallels in beaut"s brow,
&eeds on the rarities of nature"s truth,
#nd nothing stands but for his scthe to mow'
#nd et to times in hope m verse shall stand,
(raising th worth, despite his cruel hand.,
'his sonnet attempts to eplain the nature of time as it passes, and as it acts on human life by
using a metaphorical use of language. -n the first .uatrain, the speaker says that the minutes
replace one another like waves on the /pebbled shore,, each taking the place of that which
came before it in a regular se.uence. -n this .uatrain, the metaphor for the passing of tome is
that of the tide; #ust as waves cycle forward and replace one another on the beach, so do
minutes struggle forward in /se.uent toil.,
-n the second .uatrain, he tells the story of a human life in time by comparing it to the sun: at
birth 0/Nativity,1, it rises over the ocean 0/the main of light,1, then crawls upward toward
noon 0the /crown, of /maturity,1, then is suddenly undone by /crooked eclipses,, which fight
against and confound the sun2s glory. -n this .uatrain the focus shifts from the passage of time
to the passage of human life, using the metaphor of the sun during the span of a day.
-n the third .uatrain, time is depicted as a ravaging monster, which halts youthful flourish,
digs wrinkles in the brow of beauty, gobbles up nature2s beauties, and mows down with his
scythe everything that stands. -n the couplet, the speaker opposes his verse to the ravages of
time: he says that his verse will stand in times to come, and will continue to praise the
/worth, of the beloved despite the /cruel hand, of time. -n this .uatrain, the metaphor
becomes one of time as a personified force, a ravaging monster, who digs trenches in beauty,
devours nature, and mows down all that stands with his scythe..
SONNET 18
)Shall I compare thee to a summer"s da*
$hou art more lovel and more temperate'
+ough winds do shake the darling buds of ,a,
#nd summer"s lease hath all too short a date'
Sometime too hot the ee of heaven shines,
#nd often is his gold comple%ion dimm"d;
#nd ever fair from fair sometime declines,
- chance or nature"s changing course untrimm"d;
-ut th eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall .eath brag thou wander"st in his shade,
/hen in eternal lines to time thou growest'
So long as men can breathe or ees can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.0
'his sonnet is certainly the most famous in the se.uence of "hakespeare2s sonnets; it may be
the most famous lyric poem in %nglish. *mong "hakespeare2s works, only lines such as /$o
be or not to be, and /+omeo, +omeo, wherefore art thou +omeo3, are better4known. 'his is
not to say that it is at all the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets; but the
simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place.
5n the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved;
summer tends to unpleasant etremes of windiness and heat, but the beloved is always mild
and temperate. "ummer is incidentally personified as the /ee of heaven, with its /gold
comple%ion,; the imagery throughout is simple and unaffected, with the /darling buds of
,a, giving way to the /eternal summer,, which the speaker promises the beloved. 'he
language, too, is comparatively unadorned for the sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or
assonance, and nearly every line is its own self4contained clause6almost every line ends with
some punctuation, which effects a pause.