Choose One Of The Assigned Poems From The Section Of The Cou
Choose One Of The Assigned Poems From The Section Of The Course On Poe
Choose one of the assigned poems from the section of the course on poetry and write a critical response to it. First, paraphrase the poem, explaining what it is about in your own words. Then analyze the poem—how would you describe the tone of the poem? What is its meaning? Follow these guidelines in writing your essay: include a properly formatted title of your own creation that relates in some way to the content of your paper. Start with an introduction that 1) includes the title and author of the poem you are writing about, 2) gives a brief summary of what the poem is about, and 3) states your main idea or thesis about the poem’s meaning and significance. Use the body of your essay to focus on the most important aspects of the poem as they relate to your thesis. Paraphrase the poem, going line by line if necessary, to show your understanding of the poet’s use of words, imagery, and figurative language. Analyze the poem—what tone or feeling does it suggest? What is your interpretation of the poem’s meaning? Also, be sure to include at least three direct quotations (MLA style) from lines of the poem as support of what you write. Write a conclusion that gives your final reflections on the poem, its meaning, and how this meaning might be applied beyond the poem. Include a properly formatted Works Cited entry for the poem at the end of your paper. Essay must be typed and double-spaced.
Paper For Above instruction
Analyzing Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: Eternal Beauty
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, famously beginning with "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", is one of the most renowned poems that explores the themes of beauty, mortality, and the immortality of art. In this sonnet, Shakespeare begins by contemplating whether his beloved's beauty could be compared to a summer's day but quickly dismisses this idea, asserting that her beauty surpasses the fleeting perfection of summer. Throughout the poem, the poet emphasizes how her eternal beauty will live on through the permanence of his verse.
Paraphrasing line by line, the sonnet starts with the speaker asking if he should compare his beloved to a summer’s day. He suggests that her beauty is more wonderful and more constant than a summer day, which can be disturbed by rough winds or be too short-lived. The sonnet continues by stating that summer’s lease hath all too short a date, meaning summer doesn’t last forever. The poet then notes that the eye of heaven (the sun) sometimes shines too hot, and often, nature's course declines into death. Despite these flaws in summer and nature, the beauty of the beloved is eternal in the poet's verse, which will preserve her timelessness. The concluding lines declare that as long as men breathe and eyes can see, her eternal beauty shall live on, immortalized in this poem.
The tone of the sonnet is both admiring and confident. It exudes reverence for the beloved’s beauty but also conveys a sense of assuredness that poetry has the power to immortalize that beauty. The sonnet’s mood is uplifting, emphasizing hope for a lasting legacy through poetic art. The tone shifts subtly from a gentle admiration in the opening lines to confident assertion and pride in the capability of poetry to defy mortality.
The central meaning of the sonnet is that physical beauty is temporary but can be preserved through art. Shakespeare suggests that his poetry will grant eternal life to his beloved’s beauty, defying the inevitable decay of nature and time. In the lines, "But thy eternal summer shall not fade" (line 9), the poet asserts that her beauty will not diminish because it will be immortalized in verse. The poem celebrates the power of poetry to grant everlasting life to beauty and love, emphasizing that art can transcend mortality.
In my interpretation, Sonnet 18 underscores the idea that genuine love and beauty are immortal through artistic expression. It recognizes the transient nature of physical beauty but offers a hopeful outlook that poetry will preserve it forever. The sonnet’s optimism about poetry’s power provides a comforting perspective on mortality—the legacy we leave behind can be eternal if captured in art.
This sonnet’s messages extend beyond its immediate context. In a broader sense, it encourages us to value and create art that captures human experience and preserves memory. The poem demonstrates that beauty, love, and human connections can achieve lasting significance through creative expression, making art an essential means of transcending time and mortality.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 18.” The Complete Sonnets and Poems, edited by Colin Burrow, Oxford University Press, 2002.