William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 - 23 April 1616 / Warwickshire)

poet William Shakespeare
#4 on top 500 poets
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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 18)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
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 dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

William Shakespeare
Submitted: Monday, January 20, 2003


Read poems about / on: summer, nature, heaven, death, time, life, change, lost, wind

Comments about this poem (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (Sonnet 18) by William Shakespeare )

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  • Komagal Rajamohan (3/26/2012 11:56:00 AM)

    best of all the sonnets he have written........

    2 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • Kadombini Paromita (2/26/2012 8:48:00 PM)

    That's the best sonnet of William Shakespeare that I have ever read.

    5 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Kasem Almusawi (12/14/2011 1:30:00 PM)

    I would like to know the poetic devices used in sonnet 18.

    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Joshwin Artedes (Pseud) (6/4/2010 11:47:00 AM)

    if there is one poem i will choose to be my favorite, this is the poem i'll choose. w/o a doubt.

    4 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Grabriel Santana (5/14/2010 6:34:00 PM)

    i love this poem for he writes his poems from the inside

    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Ever Love (4/7/2010 5:03:00 PM)

    i love seeing guys comment on this! finally! lol my absolute favorite
    : ]

    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Alexandrea Lee (12/22/2009 11:39:00 AM)

    This without a doubt is my favorite Sonnet of all time.

    4 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Chris Moye (11/22/2009 6:35:00 PM)

    With out a dout, my favorite sonnet.

    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Tom Crocker (10/28/2009 10:28:00 PM)

    James Kinsley is right, it was written for Shakespeare's patron, the Earl of Southampton ostensibly by way of a 'and now a word for my sponsor' but there may have been a bit more to it than that. Not only is it very passionate as many of you remark, Southampton is known to have been bisexual and Shakespeare certainly had a lot of lovers!

    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Herman Chiu (10/27/2009 7:13:00 PM)

    Shakespeare will always be remembered as a source of great writing, and this poem is just another excellent example of it.

    3 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
Read all 28 comments »

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