Use of a Literary Device in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”

William Shakespeares sonnet Sh alone I compare thee to a summers day is a fourteen line metrical composition that contains three quatrains followed by a couplet. The poem is also known as Sonnet 18, and is a charming poem describing just that, a summers day. If one wishes to be technical, Shakespeare does more than describe a summers day, he is comparing an exclusive to a summers day. Shakespeare uses the literary devices imagery and diction throughout the poem.Imagery is the one device that stands out the most due to Shakespeares obscure way of describing the summer day with such detail that the lecturer feels like they are there. Diction is an important literary device which I will focalise on, because Shakespeare switches back and forwards between outline and concrete diction. Shakespeare used imagery to its fullest in this poem. Using the phrases summers day, buds of May, heaven shines, and so on It all sounds so beautiful and the indorser is able to picture all of thes e images as it brings a smile to the readers lips.While reading the poem, the gender of the person to whom Shakespeare is comparing to a summers day is left unknown and place easily be confused with that of a woman, although the poem gives no indication of this relationship be a romantic one. The line that strikes me as being the most beautiful is But thy eternal summer shall not fade (Shakespeare 76). I as the reader can just imagine a summer that never ends, and the sound of that is pleasing to the mind. Thus this is the best example of how Shakespeare used imagery in this sonnet. peerless that is a bit more difficult to understand is Shakespeares use of diction throughout the poem. Just like the rest of Shakespeares work, in this poem he primarily uses formal form of speech with words such as thou, thy, shall, nor. This choice of words was common when the poem was written back in 1609, but no longer is for the readers of this day and age, which makes Shakespeares choice of dict ion easily misunderstood. In this poem, Shakespeare uses concrete and abstract diction interchangeably.Concrete language can be considered something specific or definite such as objects you can picture with your five senses such as walking, cold, lawn mower, etc Shakespeare uses this type of diction scarcely throughout the poem with the following words buds, hot, shines, men, breathe, and eyes. Most poets do not use abstract or concrete diction uniformly (Deblanco and Cheuse 75). Shakespeare had to move back and forth between dictions in order to make the poem sound. Abstract diction is more general, because it refers to terms that you cannot touch, see, smell, feel or taste.Examples of abstract diction are love, freedom, sexism, morale, etc Shakespeare uses abstract diction much more freely throughout the poem, perhaps because abstract diction is much easier to use for his need to achieve imagery. He uses the phrases Thou machination more lovely and more temperate (Shakespeare 76) , lovely being the abstract term in this phrase. Same concept applies to the phrase But thy eternal summer shall not fade(Shakespeare 76), eternal is not something you can sense with any of your five senses.Abstract words can also vary from person to person, because a word be interpreted differently varying on the person. In sum, throughout the entirety of the poem Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day by William Shakespeare, he uses concrete and abstract interchangeably in order to achieve a perfect balance and to incorporate imagery for the reader to visualize his words. The use of concrete and abstract diction brought Shakespeares poem to life, thus making the reading a pleasant experience for the reader.