Shakespeare's sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare
thee to a summer's day?") and Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" were
written with a common purpose in mind; to immortalize the subjects of their
poems by writing them down in verses for
people to read for generations to come.
By doing so, both of the poets are preserving the beauty of the
subjects, which are the young friend of Shakespeare and Keats' "Grecian
Urn."
Beginning with Sonnet 18, and continuing here
and there throughout the first major grouping of sonnets, Shakespeare
approaches the problem of
mutability and
the effects of time upon his beloved friend in a different
fashion. Instead of addressing the problem of old age,
he emphasises his friend's attributes:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate...
(lines 1-2)"
Though time and
death work together to rob man, and particularly the friend, of his youth and
beauty putting ugly wrinkles in his face and finally causing his death, the
friend's beauty can be made immortal in spite of the ravages of time and
death. Shakespeare asserts that his
poetry will survive the destructive effects and, since the subject of this
poetry is his friend's beauty, it will immortalize his beloved friend's
beauty. The poet can make the young man
immortal in his verse
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