With their iambic pentameter, three quatrains followed by a couplet, and abab...gg rhyme scheme, poems "XVIII" and "CXXX" are clearly Shakespearean sonnets. What is interesting to note, however, is that though the speaker's goal in each sonnet is - ultimately - to celebrate their love, each speaker takes a completely different approach in the process. Though their approaches are polar-opposite, the speakers each use tone, a combination of diction and rhyme, as well as imagery and metaphor to convey their feelings and achieve the same effect.
The tone in the first poem, "XVIII", is that of reverence. At first the speaker compares the subject's beauty to that of nature, and concludes that it is indeed greater. As though anticipating the interpretation that the speaker merely admires or adores the subject, the speaker continues by actually immortalizing the beauty and the self of the subject. In reference to the subject's beauty, the speaker explicitly states that, "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee." The subject of the preceding three quatrains being beauty, the most likely antecedent for both occurrences of "this" is beauty itself. If the occurrences of "this" are replaced with their antecedent, the couplet then reads, "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives [beauty] and [beauty] gives life to thee." The speaker here is claiming that for as "long as men can breathe or eyes can see" (i.e. forever), beauty will live and will also give life to the subject. By creating this procession of time to beauty, and beauty to life, the speaker immortalizes the subject's beauty and self. It is this attribution of a divine quality to the subject that evidences the reverent tone of the speaker.
The speaker in sonnet "XVIII" uses diction and rhyme to reinforce both the immortality of the subject and the tone of the sonnet, as well as to provide further insight into the speaker's attitude toward the subject. The word "eternal" is used twice in the sonnet, each time referring to an aspect of the subject. "Eternal" is first used to describe the subject's "eternal summer" and then later - in the same quatrain - the term is used to describe the eternal time that the subject shall exist in. There are a few things that must be noted regarding the usage of the word "eternal" in order to fully understand its importance:
1.) The close proximity of each usage (i.e. same quatrain)
2.) The location of each usage within the quatrain (i.e. first and last line of the quatrain)
3.) The location of each usage within their respective lines (i.e. third word each time)
The fact that the word "eternal" is used twice in the same quatrain suggests that it is important to the idea of the quatrain itself. Assuming that, because of its length, the speaker cannot afford to waste space, it is logical to conclude that since eternality is referenced in two out of four lines, it must be important to the idea of the quatrain as a whole. The fact that the word "eternal" is located in the first and last lines of the quatrain is very significant as well. The impressions that most shape one's opinion of a person are one's first and last impressions of them. The same idea can be applied to poetry, or more specifically, this quatrain. The lines that will play the largest role in shaping one's ideas about the quatrain each speak of eternality. Being the first and last thing one thinks about when one reads the quatrain, the idea is left to linger within one's mind. Another fine nuance that supports the idea of eternality is the placement of the word "eternal" within their respective lines. Each time the word "eternal" is used, is appears as the third word in the line. This helps to provide a sense of continuity and sameness which supports the idea of an unchanging eternity. By cumulatively increasing the intensity of eternity within the reader's mind, each of these nuances helps to emphasize the eternality of the subject's beauty and self.
The speaker's use of euphonious diction and rhyme in conjunction supports the positive and reverent tone. The sonnet begins with the line, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The use of open-vowels is prevalent within the line, providing a smooth natural flow as it is read. This same pattern can be seen in the rest of the sonnet. There are 37 words with an open "a" and 39 words with an open "o" contained in the sonnet. 66% of the sonnet contains a constant assonance of open-vowels, thus providing the smooth natural flow throughout the poem. Such a relaxed flow combined with euphonious words such as "lovely", "darling", "gold", "fair", and "breathe", helps to provide a positive background for the reverent tone to be superimposed upon. The rhyming of words such as "day" and "may" - which have positive connotations - and euphonious words such as "shines" and "declines", "fade" and "shade", as well as "see" and "thee" also helps to support the overall positive atmosphere of the sonnet.
The tone of reverence is well-established within this sonnet, but the question is raised: toward what aspect of the subject is the speaker reverent? The most obvious answer is the subject's beauty, but one might scrutinize further and ask whether the speaker is reverent toward the subject's outer beauty, inner beauty, or both. Once again there is an obvious answer: outer beauty. However, one must investigate what the speaker says about inner beauty, whether it is stated explicitly or implicitly, before finalizing one's decision. The speaker's view of inner beauty can be summed up in one word: "summer". The most obvious thing about summer is that it is the warmest of all the seasons. Summer is mentioned three times within the sonnet. The first occurrence is in the very first line and is used to invoke a warm feeling and to begin the comparison of the subject to nature. The second occurrence is in the last line of the first quatrain and is used to cite the finite nature of the season itself. The third occurrence is in the first line of the last quatrain and is used to mean beauty. The previous quatrain is about nature's finite and fading beauty, so the reference to the subject's "eternal summer" that "shall not fade" can logically be interpreted to mean "eternal [beauty]" that "shall not fade". The question asked previously can be answered by looking at the use of "summer" within this line. Once again, there is the obvious implication of outer beauty, but is there the implication of inner beauty as well? One could argue that the extreme emotional warmth of summer could be akin to an intimate, caring personality. This, however, must be left to the interpretation of the reader, for there is no way to definitively prove this point either way.
Discord
Light Style