Comment on the importance of poetic devices used in the poem.
The poem is unique in form because it is a sonnet. A typical English sonnet has fourteen lines two sestets and a rhyming couplet. This poem has several poetic devices first, a typical sonnet has beautiful end rhymes which create melody and poetic harmony. The rhyming pattern of the poem is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. This blend of similar-sounding words makes the poem lyrical and musical. The opening line of the first stanza begins with a rhetorical question, “Shall I compare thee to summer’s day?” This has a powerful impact because of its emotional appeal.
Apart from these, there are several examples o alliteration for sound effects. They include, “thee… to”, (t) in line 1 “more…more”-line 7, “changing course”, line 8, “summer shall,” that…thou”, “to time thou””, “long lives,” thee” etc. Moreover, the language is a mixture of old and modern English with some contracted forms, such as “dimm’d” “untrimm’d”, “wander’st” etc. These enhance the musical beauty of the poem.