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, (5)
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; (10)
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st 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.
In line 1, what is the speaker comparing? What is the implied
structure of this sonnet given the first line?
According to the speaker in line 2, which is more beautiful:
the summer’s day or the person being compared to it?
What are the “darling buds of May” in line 3?
In lines 3-4, what does the speaker reveal about summer?
How could this information be relevant to the comparison
of “thee” to a “summer's day”?
In lines 5-6, how is the sun personified? What does the use
of this device reveal about summer?
In line 7, what idea does the speaker emphasize by using
alliteration? What does the word “fair” mean in this
context? How might something “fair” decline?
Lines 7-8 depict a cause/ effect relationship. What is the
cause/effect relationship depicted in these lines?
How does the message shift in line 9? What word signals
this shift?
What is the effect of repeating the words “not” and “nor"
in lines 9-11?
How does the speaker personify Death in line 11?
According to the speaker in the second quatrain (lines 9-12),
how is the person being compared to summer even better
than summer?
What does “this” refer to in line 14?
What is the final statement about the person being
described in Sonnet 18?
What devices does the speaker use to emphasize this idea?
©2017 Bespoke ELA bespokeclassroom.com
 Sonnet Writing Task
Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in the following format:

• 14 lines of iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• Three quatrains (grouping of four lines) and a rhyming couplet

Directions

Write your own original sonnet in the style of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 by

comparing two nouns (persons, places, things, or ideas).

Begin with a question in line 1 that introduces the two items you are
comparing. Then answer the question in the three quatrains of the poem by
describing different aspects of the items being compared.

Include a shift in line 9 at the beginning of the third quatrain and end with a
rhyming couplet that emphasizes the overall theme of the sonnet.

Student Example

Shall I compare you to a chocolate bar?

You are delicious and more sweet. It’s true!
Hot weather melts and shrinks a candy bar,
And chocolate can’t withstand the desert hue.
Sometimes sweet chocolate’s tainted with nougat;
A cherry, or a raspberry inside
Destroys the pure sweet cocoa beenie nut.
The constant shock I do not take in stride.
But you have such a true heart that is whole.
You do not melt in summer sun and heat;
Nor sadden with gross flavors of your soul.
You always show your truth and never flee.
So long as chocolate candy people eat,
So long as I can show my love’s not weak.

©2017 Bespoke ELA bespokeclassroom.com