The sonnet is split into three quatrains with a rhyming couplet to end the poem.
Shakespeare uses examples of natural beauty to explain that his beloved is not as beautiful as these exquisite natural beauties, but will last longer and will stay even more beautiful inside:
“But thy eternal summer shall not fade”
He reveals that she is, in fact, is even more beautiful than the summer as her beauty will never fade. Shakespeare appears to be very mature in his views on love and talks realistically rather than in a passionate moment.
Shakespeare used a conventional form of poetry to praise poetry and his beloved. He boasted that both would be preserved nearly eternally. Five hundred years later, no one refutes his boast.
On the other hand, “To Celia” is an example of the idolatry that the Shakespeare sonnet mocks. Jonson likens his beloved to a goddess, giving her special powers beyond realistic measure.
He writes lyrically and expresses deep personal emotions about love as someone who was foolishly and passionately in love would do, using many exaggerated metaphors and vivid language phrases:
“But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.”
He attempts to show the extent of his love for her, by telling her, that even if he was offered to drink from the Holy Grail, he would prefer to drink from her cup. Using religion to express love was very popular in love poetry at that time, as it was viewed as extremely important part of their culture.
In “To His Coy Mistress”, Marvell’s beloved is also not idolised, as in “To Celia” but he does use excessive flattery as a persuasive device. This makes many of the supposedly devoted phrases he uses seem false.
“An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze”
He exaggerates how beautiful he thinks she is by likening her to a Goddess who should be worshipped, hoping that this will convince her of his love.
The Shakespeare sonnet makes references to the five senses. Jonson’s “To Celia”, written at a similar time, also refers to the senses:
“Drink to me, only, with thine eyes”
Marvell writes “To His Coy Mistress” in 1621, also attempting to persuade, like Jonson. This time not to get his beloved to love him, but to persuade her to sleep with him. Both men are seen to be being rejected whereas in the Shakespeare sonnets, it is obvious that the couples are very much in love already.
The poem “My picture” by Abraham Cowley is similar to “To Celia”, as both women are the two men’s life forces. They imply in their poems that if the women were not there, then their lives would be worthless and they would die.
In “My picture” Cowley gives his beloved a picture and he implies that if she is not in his life then the picture will no longer look the same. This is even though the picture has only recently been drawn, because he will have withered away as he has been out of her presence. As you can see both in “My Picture” and “To Celia” both men rely on the two women to keep them alive.
If we look at the poem “My Picture” by Cowley the words he has used looked quite forced as if he has just used them to make the poem rhyme. I think however that Cowley has tried to make the poem quite light hearted by using simplicity with the rhyming-
“The next sun’s rising will behold
Me pale, and lean, and old.”
- We can see from this small extract the simplicity of the poem and also the way Cowley has just used words that fit but therefore look forced. However if we look again at the language of “To Celia”, Ben Jonson has used quite complicated language that some might find hard to understand -
“Deserts of vast eternity”
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine
The poem “To Celia” has a rhyming scheme ABCB. Ben Jonson has made the words of the poem flow really well –
“Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I’ll not look for wine
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I’ll not look for wine”
As you can see by reading this the words Ben Jonson has used do not seem as if he has just used them because they rhyme, he has simply used them because these chosen words are telling his story.
If we look at the poem “Shall I compare thee...” by Shakespeare the language he has used is simple and easy to read. The poem is also understandable unlike parts of “To Celia” by Ben Jonson.
In conclusion we can see that all four poems however being similar in some way also have there on qualities and downsides. In Shakespeare’s sonnet he tries to say that beauty on the inside will last forever however beauty on the outside will be destroyed one day. On the other hand Marvell writes his poem to persuade his beloved, not to adore her. Jonson writes to try and tell his beloved how much he loves her as he is desperate to be with her.
