“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” is one of my favorite poems/ sonnets. The poem is in iambic pentameter like much of Shakespeare’s other works. This is significant as it changes the way his audience will read the poem. It almost gives the poem movement, as well as emphasizing certain words and phrases.
This movement created by iambic pentameter functions to establish a theme of cycles. These cycles work to parallel the cycles of life. This is supported when the speaker states, “and summer’s lease hath much too short a date” (4). Here, the speaker refers to summer taking out a lease on nature. Thus, summer can’t last all year. This works to present a cycle, as summer comes and goes each year. According to the speaker, summer is always too short. This introduces the conflict of the poem that all good things must come to an end. This is supported when the speaker states, “And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed” (7-8). Here, the speaker suggests that …show more content…
I saw this specifically in the stanza in which the speaker describes crawling down the ladder. This is supported by the repetition of, “I go down.” The speaker compares himself to an insect stating, “I crawl like an insect down the ladder” (30). This is significant as it makes the speaker appear less than human. This is further emphasized later in the poem when the speaker describes swimming with the mermaids. The allusion to mermaids serves as a symbol of unity between man and the ocean. The diver is slowly transforming from a human diver to an aquatic being. This is seen through the statement, “We circle silently about the wreck we dive into the hold. I am she: I am he” (72-73). While presenting the transformation of the diver, it also connects back to the book of myths alluded to in the first
This movement created by iambic pentameter functions to establish a theme of cycles. These cycles work to parallel the cycles of life. This is supported when the speaker states, “and summer’s lease hath much too short a date” (4). Here, the speaker refers to summer taking out a lease on nature. Thus, summer can’t last all year. This works to present a cycle, as summer comes and goes each year. According to the speaker, summer is always too short. This introduces the conflict of the poem that all good things must come to an end. This is supported when the speaker states, “And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed” (7-8). Here, the speaker suggests that …show more content…
I saw this specifically in the stanza in which the speaker describes crawling down the ladder. This is supported by the repetition of, “I go down.” The speaker compares himself to an insect stating, “I crawl like an insect down the ladder” (30). This is significant as it makes the speaker appear less than human. This is further emphasized later in the poem when the speaker describes swimming with the mermaids. The allusion to mermaids serves as a symbol of unity between man and the ocean. The diver is slowly transforming from a human diver to an aquatic being. This is seen through the statement, “We circle silently about the wreck we dive into the hold. I am she: I am he” (72-73). While presenting the transformation of the diver, it also connects back to the book of myths alluded to in the first