Discuss the theme of love and admiration in the poem – Shall I Compare Thee to Summer’s Day?
Love and admiration form the central message of the poem. The speaker is full of admiration for this lover which can be compared to a “summer’s day which is ally characterized by warmth and brightness. While doing this, the speaker says: “Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. In admiring his lover, the speaker admits that though rough times may endure, the summer’s sun may be too hot and the beauty of the sun may fade, through changing the course of nature, he insists, “nut thy eternal summer shall not fade/nor lose possession of that fair thou owest”, This implies that no matter the situation, nothing will ever courage his love for her.
The object at discourse in the poem is “beauty”, which is a thing of nature. Admiration of nature is the primary focus of romanticism. Thus, the speaker in this poem is greatly enthralled by the ravishing beauty of the object (his lover). This prompts the eulogy: Shell I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely end more temperate
…every fair from fair sometime declines
But thy eternal summer shall not fade”.
For the speaker, beauty lasts forever and so shall his love which shall net fade. In conclusion, the speaker is convinced that “as long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and that is love”, that is what he admires, the thing that is praised.