Sonnet 18- Answers to 12/2

Answers to homework(Accuracy NOT guaranteed):

1. What is the main theme in the poem?

-The main theme in the poem, Sonnet 18, is beauty, youth, life and death. Beauty can fade over time, and youth is temporary. However, beauty can live on by immortalizing it in poetry. (I prefer this one than teacher's)

2. How does the poet describe a summer's day?

-The poet describes a summer's day as the sun being too hot sometimes, with rough winds. He also describes a summer's day as being too short. In a nutshell, a summer's day is imperfect to the poet.

3. Why does the poet compare his beloved to a summer's day?

-The poet compares his beloved to a summer's day to express her loveliness. A summer's day is generally extremely lovely and beautiful, thus, the poet uses this as a comparison, to express that his beloved was even more beautiful than a summer's day.

4. What does 'the eye of heaven' refer to?

- 'The eye of heaven' refers to the sun.

5. What will cause 'the fair' in line 7 to decline?

-'The fair' will decline due to chance, or to the nature's way of changing the seasons, or by being left alone and not taken care of.

6. What do the 'rough winds' do to the 'darling buds of May'?

- 'The rough winds' would shake and blow at the 'darling buds of May'.

7. What does the 'gold complexion' refer to?

-'The gold complexion' refers to the sun's light, or sunshine. The sun is sometimes clouded, thus the line, 'And often is his gold complexion dimm'd'

8. What does the phrase, 'eternal lines' refer to?

-The phrase, 'eternal lines', refers to lines of poetry.