Write a critical appreciation of the poem "To His Love".
"To His Love ' is one of the loveliest sonnets of Williams Shakespeare. It is the eighteenth of the 154 sonnets which Shakespeare wrote. It contains his wealth of imagination. It is full of honeyed words and jewels of expressions. Its rhyming scheme is ab, ab, cd, cd, ef. gg... It is a love song. Its lyrical quality is superb.
It reveals Shakespeare's poetic gift splendidly. It has the felicity of diction and tenderness of imagination. Shakespeare reveals his love for his friend Lord Southampton ( or Lord Pembroke) very much. He is an image of beauty.
The poet compares him today in summer but he is more beautiful than a summer's day. On such a day sometimes the sun is too hot and sometimes the wind is rough and the summer's day soon ends. But the beauty of the poet's friend will not die. It will live in his poetry. His poetry will always be read by the people.
Whosoever reads his poetry, will remember the poet's friends and is beauty long after he is dead. The poet begins the sonnet by saying that he can't compare the young handsome man to a summer's day as his friend owns unique beauty and is more lovely and charming than a summer's day which is too hot and short-lived. He says ...
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely - and more temperate :
Shakespeare uses images from nature to convey the idea that every beautiful thing in nature decays over time. The darling buds of may are shaken by rough winds, summer is short-lived, and the brightness of the sun is dimmed. But the youth of this handsome young man is going to live forever as he has immortalized his beauty in his poetry.
" But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st ": "
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee "
The poet is inspired with love and the glorious beauty of his friend. He loves his friend so dearly that his wishes to compare the beauty of his friend with something special. As in England, the beauty of summer is very sweet. Therefore, the poet wishes to compare his friend's beauty with summer's day.
He compares his friend's beauty with nature because he feels that nothing on this earth can be suitable for so-called comparison. In the last stanza, the poet confirms that his friend's beauty will live forever. He can't lose his beauty. Death destroys everything but it can't destroy his friend's beauty.
Shakespeare, in the couplet, style, draws his sonnet towards a conclusion by saying that he will immortalize his friend's beauty by giving it a place in the eternal lines of poetry. In this way as long as mankind exists and can read and appreciate good poetry, his friend's beauty will also be appreciated by them. Thus the poet, indirectly, points out the fact that everything on this earth is subject to decay except art i.e. poetry.
Conclusion -
This sonnet To His Love is the 18th sonnet divided into three quatrains and one couplet. It is an English sonnet introduced into England in the very first half of the 16 % century by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard but Shakespeare used it so splendidly that it is now called after his name. This sonnet is remarkable for the poet's mastery over art.
The image of nature have been used the convey the poet's thoughts beautifully. The flow of rhythm is highly musical and the sonnet remains beautifully structured throughout from the opening lines to the final couplet. To sum up. It can be, safely, said that the sonnet " To His love " is one of the most perfect and polished sonnets written by Shakespeare, the greatest of all the Elizabethan poets and dramatists.
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