The second quatrain elaborates on the problems of summer, especially the hot weather. “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, / And often is his gold complexion dimmed” (Line 5-6), Shakespeare does this to stress the many issues with summer and therefore make his beloved look even better. The following lines have a negative tone which suggest death, “And every fair from fair sometime declines, / By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed” (Line 7-8), the poet suggests everything fades with time; it is the way nature behaves. He is suggesting one of the main problems with summer is that quickly ends.
In the final quatrain Shakespeare explores the idea that the summer of the beloved is better than nature’s summer. “But thy eternal summer shall not shade” (Line 9), Shakespeare is contrasting the eternal summer of the beloved which is infinite and will never finish to nature’s summer which will finish as previously stated. The poet uses the imperative, ‘shall not fade’, to accent the fact that it cannot fade and it wont. He continues to praise the beloved, “Nor loose possession of that fair thou ow’st, /Nor shall death brag thou wande’rest in this shade” (Line 10-11), Shakespeare is suggesting that he beloved will never loose its beauty nor idea. The repetition of ‘nor’ suggests the love of the poet for the beloved, he is suggesting that nothing bad will ever happen. He concludes the quartet by proposing the beloved will live forever, “When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st” (Line 12). The idea of capturing the beloved and her beauty if suggest in this line.
In the final rhyming couplet Shakespeare puts forward the idea that the sonnet will remain, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, /So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (Line 13-14). The idea of remembering the beloved by the eternal life of the sonnet is suggested.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day is both a love and death sonnet, as both ideas are strongly suggested. Shakespeare wanted to express the importance and value of literature, such as sonnets as they remain forever; he accomplishes this using the beloved of an example of someone’s beauty, which will remain through the sonnet. The reader is drawn to this sonnet as it explores de idea of death vs. nature, and finally Shakespeare suggests death can be defeated and we can achieve immortality through literature.
