1️⃣ What kind of a poem is ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’* [WBCHSE H.S. 2019, 2024]
👉 ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ is one of the greatest love sonnets of William Shakespeare.
2️⃣ How is Sonnet No. 18 divided?
👉Shakespearean Sonnet No. 18 is divided into three quatrains and a concluding couplet.
3️⃣ What is the rhyme-scheme of the sonnet?
👉The rhyme-scheme of the sonnet 18 is abab cdcd efef gg.
4️⃣ To whom is the sonnet 18 addressed?*
👉Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 is addressed to his young male friend probably the Earl of Southampton Mr William Herbert.
Related Question
[I] Who is the sonnet addressed to?
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5️⃣ ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ Why does the poet put this question? *
👉The poet William Shakespeare puts this question because he does not want to compare his friend to a summer’s day because his friend is more lovely and more temperate than a summer’s day.
6️⃣ Which season is mentioned in Sonnet 18?
👉In Sonnet 18 summer season is mentioned by the poet.
7️⃣ What are the predominant themes of this sonnet? Write in a few words.
👉The predominant themes of the sonnet 18 are the ravages of time, the brevity of life and beauty, love, and the timelessness of poetry that can capture beauty and love.
8️⃣ ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ What do you mean by ‘thee’? Who is referred to here as ‘thee’?
👉‘Thee’ is an old English word i.e. an archaic word which means ‘you’.
Here ‘thee’ refers to the young male friend of the poet William Shakespeare to whom the sonnet 18 is addressed.
9️⃣ ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ Does the speaker think the comparison is proper or worthy?* [WBCHSE Sample Question]
👉No, the speaker does not think the comparison is proper or worthy because his young male friend is more lovely and more temperate than a summer’s day.
1️⃣0️⃣ What does Shakespeare compare his friend to?* [WBCHSE Sample Question]
👉Shakespeare compares his friend to a summer’s day.
Related Questions
[I What does the poet, Shakespeare compare this young person to?
[II] What does the poet compare his friend to?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2023]
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1️⃣1️⃣ What is the purpose of the poet in beginning the poem with a question?
👉The poet William Shakespeare hesitates to compare his friend to one of lovely summer’s days because his friend is more lovely and more temperate than a summer’s day. So the poet begins the poem with a question because he cannot decide whether he will compare his friend to a summer’s day or not.
1️⃣2️⃣ In which month can the ‘darling buds’ be seen?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2020]
👉The ‘darling buds’ can be seen in May month.
1️⃣3️⃣ What shakes the darling buds of May?* [WBCHSE Sample Question]
👉The rough wind shakes the darling buds of May.
Related Questions
[I] What do the rough winds shake?
[II] What do ‘rough winds’ do?
[III] What do the rough winds do?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2023]
👉’Rough winds’ do shake the darling buds of May.
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1️⃣4️⃣ “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” What is meant by ‘summer’s lease’?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2016]
👉By ‘summer’s lease’ the poet means the short duration of summer or the brevity of summer.
1️⃣5️⃣ How has the friend been described in the first quatrain of the sonnet?
👉In the first quatrain of the sonnet 18 the while comparing his friend to a summer’s day, the poet has found that his friend is more lovely and more temperate than a summer’s day.
Related Answer
👉In first quatrain of the sonnet 18 the poet finds superiority of his friend’s beauty than a lovely summer’s day.
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1️⃣6️⃣ How has the poet described the sun in the second quatrain of the sonnet?
👉In the second quatrain of the sonnet 18 the poet has described the sun as the eye of heaven which is too hot sometimes and sometimes becomes dimmed by the thin layer of clouds over it.
1️⃣7️⃣ “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines.” Which figure of speech is used here?
👉Here the figure of speech Metaphor is used here because the sun is compared to the eye of heaven.
1️⃣8️⃣ What does the ‘eye of heaven’ refer to?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2017, 2022]
👉The ‘eye of heaven’ refers to the sun.
Related Question
[I] What does ‘the eye of heaven’ stand for?
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1️⃣9️⃣ How does the ‘eye of heaven’ sometimes shine in summer?
👉The ‘eye of heaven’ sometimes shines too hot in summer.
2️⃣0️⃣ “And often is his gold complexion dimmed” Whose complexion is referred to here?* [WBCHSE Sample Question]
👉The complexion of the sun is referred to here.
2️⃣1️⃣ How is the ‘gold complexion’ of the sun dimmed?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2016]
👉The ‘gold complexion’ of the sun is dimmed by the thin layer of clouds over it.
2️⃣2️⃣ What is the complexion of summer?
👉The complexion of summer is golden.
2️⃣3️⃣ What does the line “And every fair from fair sometimes decline” mean?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2020]
👉The above line means that beauty from every beautiful object declines with the passage of time.
2️⃣4️⃣ What is suggested by the phrase ‘nature’s changing course’?*
👉By the phrase ‘nature’s changing course’ the poet means the natural passage of time through the cycle of seasons.
2️⃣5️⃣ Which shall never fade?*
👉The poet’s young male friend’s beauty inscribed in his eternal lines shall never fade.
Related Question
[I] What shall never fade?
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2️⃣6️⃣ What are the features of summer presented in the poem?
👉The features of summer presented in the poem are– in summer rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, the sun sometime shines too hot, and sometimes the sun becomes dimmed by the clouds in summer.
2️⃣7️⃣ Whose ‘summer’ is eternal?*
👉The poet’s young male friend’s ‘summer’ is eternal.
2️⃣8️⃣ How can eternal summer be maintained?*
👉The ‘eternal summer’ of poet’s young friend can be maintained through eternal poetry written in his praise.
2️⃣9️⃣ “But thy eternal summer shall not fade.” What does the word ‘summer’ refer to here?* [WBCHSE Sample Question]
👉Here the word ‘summer’ refers to ‘beauty’.
3️⃣0️⃣ What does the young friend of the poet possess?
👉The young friend of the poet possesses eternal beauty.
3️⃣1️⃣ What shall death not brag in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2015]
👉In Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18 death shall not brag over poetry written in praise of the poet’s young male friend’s beauty.
Related Question
[I] What shall death not brag about in Shakespeare’s poem?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2022]
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3️⃣2️⃣ Who has no control over the beauty of the poet’s friend?
👉Death has no control over the beauty of the poet’s friend inscribed in his eternal lines.
3️⃣3️⃣ Which lines are called ‘eternal lines’ and why?*
👉The lines of the sonnet 18 are called ‘eternal lines’ because the poet firmly believes that people will read this sonnet as long as they exist in the world.
3️⃣4️⃣ How long will the young man be remembered in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2018, 2022]
👉In Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18 the young man will be remembered as long as people read this sonnet.
3️⃣5️⃣ What does the expression “So long as men can breathe” mean?
👉The expression ‘So long as men can breathe’ means ‘as long as people live or exist in the earth’.
3️⃣6️⃣ “So long lives this,”–What is referred to by the word ‘this’?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2017]
👉By the word ‘this’ the poet refers to the sonnet 18.
3️⃣7️⃣ “…and this gives life to thee.” Who is the person referred to here and what would give him life?
👉The person referred to here is the poet’s young male friend. As long as people read this sonnet, it would give him life.
3️⃣8️⃣ What gives life to the poet’s friend in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2018]
👉In Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18 as long as people read this sonnet, this sonnet gives life to the poet’s friend.
3️⃣9️⃣ How does the poet suggest that the beauty of his friend shall never fade?
👉The poet suggests that the beauty of his friend shall never fade as long as people read this eternal sonnet 18.
4️⃣0️⃣ What will make the beauty of the poet’s friend eternal?* [WBCHSE H.S. 2015]
👉As long as people read the eternal lines of his sonnet, the beauty of the poet’s friend will be eternal.
4️⃣1️⃣ What has Shakespeare attempted in Sonnet No. 18?
👉In Sonnet No. 18 Shakespeare has attempted to eternalize his young male friend’s beauty inscribed in his eternal lines of the sonnet.
4️⃣2️⃣ What is the simile in Sonnet 18?
👉One of lovely summer’s days is the controlling simile in Sonnet 18.
Related Question
[I] What is the controlling simile in the poem?
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4️⃣3️⃣ Why is poetry not subjected to death and decay?*
👉Poetry is not subjected to death and decay because it remains forever in the hearts of the readers. As long as people read poetry, it is never subjected to death and decay.
4️⃣4️⃣ Is the poem a love or war poem?
👉William Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 is a beautiful love poem.
4️⃣5️⃣ Who is ‘I’ in the poem referred to?
👉In the poem Sonnet 18 ‘I’ refers to the poet himself William Shakespeare.
👉According to the poet, his young male friend is more lovely than a Summer’s day.
