Shakespeare's Sonnets 18 and 130

Most people are familiar with Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and its famous line "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" However, most people are unfamiliar with Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, which is not that surprising considering the difference in tone. When first reading the two poems, it is easy to note the big differences. After rereading them, I was also able to notice some important similarities.

Sonnet 18 is an incredibly flattering poem, and basically says that the woman being described is lovelier than possible to describe; she is beyond compare to the beauties of nature. It's like a pickup line; it's obviously exaggerated and meant to flatter a woman whom Shakespeare is in love with. Shakespeare compares her to summer, only to say that summer is flawed in ways in which the woman is not.

If Sonnet 18 is a pickup line, Sonnet 130 is more like the conversation you have with your wife after being married for several years. This poem kind of takes back everything that was said in Sonnet 18; his mistress is nothing like a summer day or anything of that sort. Shakespeare points out that the woman is fair from perfect, and that comparing her to the beauty of nature is ludicrous. My favorite example of this is when he says, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun." It's obviously not very flattering, but points out how many of the comparisons that people use to describe their loved ones are far from accurate.

While these two poems may seem completely different, they have two very important similarities: use of nature in imagery and the idea that comparisons are imperfect. First, both of the sonnets use elements of nature and its beauties to describe Shakespeare's mistress. Sonnet 18 talks about a summer day and Sonnet 130 talks about the sun, coral, snow, and roses. The use of images from nature gives the poems a very natural, earthy feel, as though they were written and read outside.

More importantly is the shared theme of the imperfection of comparisons. In both of the sonnets, Shakespeare explains how comparing people to nature only gets you so far; they either fall short of the true beauty of a person or exaggerate a person's beauty. Neither of the poems says that the woman is exactly like one thing in nature, because she's not.

Although the two poems display different feelings towards the subject, they both contain the important idea that comparisons are flawed, which is the most important part of the poems.