“SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER’S DAY?”
“Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?” is a line found in Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet. This is the most referred to of all the Shakespeare sonnets (of which there were 152), probably because it is largely understood. If you have ever studied Shakespeare, you know that the first step to fully appreciating the beauty and wit of his words is interpreting and decoding the references. The Shakespeare sonnet is not always as romantic as some people may think. The predominant subjects of Shakespeare’s sonnets were politics, beauty, mortality and of course love – although love, sometimes painted in darker shades or parodied.
But is a sonnet a poem? In principle, it is similar to a poem. However, the sonnet follows a stricter structure. A standard sonnet is composed of three four-line stanzas. These stanzas are characterised by the rhyming pattern abab, cdcd, efef, gg. This means that the first line must rhyme with the third, the second with the fourth, etc. and then the last two lines are a couplet and have their own rhyme. If you hear a sonnet read out loud, you will see why the rhyme scheme is so important. The mesmerising effect of Shakespeare’s words together with his rhyming style can move the reader to another place and time.