Summary:
The main theme of this sonnet is friendship and eternity.In this sonnet the poet is praising the eternal beauty of his beloved friend.
Shakespeare starts the sonnet with a question whether he could compare his friend with the beauty of a summer day.In the first two quatrains we can see him suggesting a series of similes to compare his friend.But later on he finds it pretty contrasting as his friend is more lovely and gentle than the summer’s day.
He also highlights many disadvantages of a summer day inorder ro prove that it’s beauty is not permanent.
The buds of may are rudely shaken by the rough winds.The duration of a summer’s day is too short.Sometimes the sun shines too hot and his golden complexion is dimmed.Every beautiful objest fades in its beauty.The poet uses all these images of nature to depict the short life of a summer’s day.
The final quatrain of the sonnet portrays how his friend is different from a summer’s day.The poet says that his friend won’t lose his eternal beauty and he won’t be affected by the transitory changes which occur in a summer’s day.The poet also glorifies his friend by picturising him as immortal.
The last couplet sums up the central thought of the sonnet.The poet says that as long as humanity exists,his poems will live and his poems will make his beloved immortal.
By Hridhya P
Littérateurs 