Unlike any other person who has stepped foot on this earth, William Shakespeare had a way with words. He is known for creating copious amounts of words and phrases that we still use today. This helped Shakespeare when expressing his love, since he would often express his love through his writings. Shakespeare’s words seem like they could jump off the page, and one can imagine the characteristics of a person Shakespeare is writing about with the slightest of ease. One can examine examples of this in “Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” and “Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun.” As one can tell from the titles, these are drastically different poems. Just by analyzing the titles, one can assess that Sonnet 18 …show more content…
The theme of both poems is love. This is easily seen in Sonnet 18. Sonnet 18 says, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate,” through this Shakespeare is saying that his love is more beautiful than any summer day (line 2). In this poem, Shakespeare compares his lover to marvelous things. On the other hand, love is not as easily recognized in Sonnet 130. It can be found, however, in line 13 of Sonnet 130 when it says, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare.” This line means that he thinks that his love is extraordinary. While the subject matter appears very different, the message of both poems is the same. Through the poems, Shakespeare communicates that love is the same no matter the circumstances. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare says that his lover will stay youthful and live forever in text; however, he knows realistically that his lover will age and die. Although his lover’s actual beauty will fade, he will forever love him/her. In Sonnet 130, despite all the magnificent things he contrasts his lover with, he still loves him/her. Through these examples, one can clearly conclude that love conquers all things- the beautiful and the ugly. This is a message that still carries through to today’s society, and that is why these poems are relevant to the people of this modern