Sonnet comparison: Shakespeare and Donne

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Michael Bodansky 11LB

Poetry Coursework

‘Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day ?’ and ‘Death be not proud’ are both poems written in sonnet form, written by William Shakespeare and John Donne respectively. They share common themes and have dinstinct similarities, yet are also strikingly different.

One of the most obvious differences is that ‘Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day ?’ (hereafter known as poem 1) is written in the Shakespearean format, with its Shakespearean rhyme scheme being ABABCDCDEFEFGG, and ‘Death be not proud’ (hereafter known as poem 2) is written in the petrarchan format, its rhyme scheme being ABBAABBACDDCEE.

Both sonnets are written as if the poet is talking to the object itself (as ‘thee’ is used throughout both poems – the 2nd person address is used) ; in the first Shakespeare is adressing a lover and in the second Donne is talking to death directly.

In poem 2 Shakespeare is comparing his love for Summer to the love for his admiree, showing that however much he enjoys the feelings and changes in the world associated with this season, it is nothing compared to the woman to whom he is writing – he writes that ‘thou art more lovely and temperate’. In the phrase ‘Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines’ we can infer that the reference to heaven gives this woman angelic properties. As is common in many sonnets, there is a turning point after the first two quartrains – this is shown in the phrase ‘But thy eternal Summer shall not fade’ ; the ‘but’ indicates a change, and the ‘eternal Summer’ not fading is a implication that his love too shall not diminish, either with the passage of time or by any other means. In lines 11-12 we meet the phrases ‘Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade/When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st’. The theme of love’s eternal transcendence is shown here too, as it seems that the couple’s love will continue to live, even if their bodies do not.

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In the final two lines of this poem Shakespeare reiterates the eternality of love as he explains that as long as there are people on the Earth, this poem too will ive on, making his lover immortal.

In ‘Death be not proud’, there is also significant imagery and use of metaphors. In the first four lines Donne is mocking and denouncing death, stating blankly that ‘he’ is not mighty and dreadful, that death is only powerful to those who fear him (‘For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow’), and that death cannot kill him. The repeated use ...

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