The Writings of Shakespeare and Donne
Mark Payne
1302-20
The Writings of Shakespeare and Donne
The poems from William Shakespeare and John Donne that interest me are “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and “The flea”. One of the main reason that I am writing about these two poems are because they are the only ones that I know of because that is what we talked about in class and I have never read poetry in my life. Poetry has always been difficult for me to read because of my mild case of dyslexia. I have to read the sentence a couple of times before I finally figure out what the writer is trying to say. Obviously I have heard of Shakespeare before and knew about his works that included Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar. What I didn’t know was how successful and influential his poetry was. But unlike William Shakespeare, I have never heard about John Donne until the lecture a few days ago. After reading the two poems I believe that there are many similarities and differences in the style that both of these poets write.
In “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day" by William Shakespeare I certainly feel that the author is addressing a woman with whom he is truly in love. This is purveyed to me by the two strong opening lines, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. Shakespeare starts the sonnet off with how strongly he loves this woman and then goes on to say “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all to short a date: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines” Shakespeare is saying that even though he loves her, she is still not perfect. Afterwards he goes on to say, “But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st” which he is saying that her youth will not fade and that her beauty will always remain with her for the rest of her life. It ends with “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” He is trying to say that
1302-20
The Writings of Shakespeare and Donne
The poems from William Shakespeare and John Donne that interest me are “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” and “The flea”. One of the main reason that I am writing about these two poems are because they are the only ones that I know of because that is what we talked about in class and I have never read poetry in my life. Poetry has always been difficult for me to read because of my mild case of dyslexia. I have to read the sentence a couple of times before I finally figure out what the writer is trying to say. Obviously I have heard of Shakespeare before and knew about his works that included Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar. What I didn’t know was how successful and influential his poetry was. But unlike William Shakespeare, I have never heard about John Donne until the lecture a few days ago. After reading the two poems I believe that there are many similarities and differences in the style that both of these poets write.
In “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day" by William Shakespeare I certainly feel that the author is addressing a woman with whom he is truly in love. This is purveyed to me by the two strong opening lines, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. Shakespeare starts the sonnet off with how strongly he loves this woman and then goes on to say “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all to short a date: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines” Shakespeare is saying that even though he loves her, she is still not perfect. Afterwards he goes on to say, “But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st” which he is saying that her youth will not fade and that her beauty will always remain with her for the rest of her life. It ends with “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” He is trying to say that