Shall I Compare thee Broad Questions and Answers (Long Questions and Answers) - William Shakespeare - WB H.S

Class- XII

Poetry

Chapter-3

Shall I Compare Thee

-William Shakespeare

Shall I Compare thee Broad Q+A

Broad Questions and Answers (Long Questions and Answers)

1.How is summer presented in the sonnet?

Ans:-In Sonnet 18 Shakespeare wants to compare the beauty of his friend to a summer’s day. So he describes the beauty and charm of summer and says that he can not compare the beauty of his friend to a summer’s day because in summer, sweet buds are shaken be rough winds. The brightness of summer has no consistency. Sometimes the sun shines brightly but often its gold complexion is dimmed by the passing clouds. Next, summer is short-lived. Thus its beauty fades away quickly. On the other hand the beauty of the poet’s friend will be made eternal by the eternal lines of the poet.

2.Give the substance of the poem “Sonnet 18 Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day”.

Ans:-In his sonnet Shall I Compare Thee To a Summer's Day William Shakespeare praises the beauty of his dear friend Earl of Southampton . The poet believes that the beauty of his friend will never fade. The Swede buds of may can be blown down by the rough winds. The summer does not stay long. The sun shines either too hot or sometime becomes over clouded, so all the natural objects are subject to change and decay. But time and death will not fade the beauty of his friend. This sonnet will immortalise the beauty of his friend. His friend and his beauty will remain immortal to the readers of the sonnet. The friend of the poet gets lives and will live forever in this way.

3.“But thy eternal summer shall not fade.”- Whose eternal summer is referred to here? What is meant by eternal summer? Why will eternal summer not fade?

Ans:-The eternal summer of the poet’s friend is referred to in the above quoted line.In the above quoted line eternal summer means unfading beauty.The eternal summer in the above quoted line refers to the glowing beauty of the poet’s male friend. The poet wants to compare the beauty of his friend to a summer’s day. But after considering the shortcomings of a summer’s day he decides not to compare the beauty of his friend to a summer’s day. The poet says that he will make the beauty of his friend eternal through his immortal verses. In his words- 

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and gives life to thee”.

4.What does the poet compare this young person to? Identify at least three qualities that make the person superior to the simile.

Ans:-“Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s day?” by William Shakespeare is a famous sonnet where he compares the beauty of a young man, his friend to the day of the summer. But he is not sure about the appropriateness to this comparison because of at least three reasons. Firstly the day of the summer is lovely but the beauty of the youth is more enjoyable. He is more temperate, more gentle, more restrained than the day of the summer. Rough winds shake the sweet buds of the flower. Secondly summer stays very short period. The beauty of the youth will live for long. Thirdly the bright sunlight of the summer which would be dimmed is compared. But the beauty of his friend is compared as eternal summer which shall not fade. Death and Time cannot destroy the beauty of the youth. He immortalises his friend through the eternal lines of his poetry. 

5. "...and this gives life to thee'' - What does 'this refer to? Whom does the word  'thee' refer to? How does this give life?

 Ans:- Here this refers to the sonnet composed by W. Shakespeare.

In the sonnet no. 18 'thee' refers to the poet's fair friend Mr. W.H., who is supposed to be the Earl of Southampton.

The poet asserts all the things and the beings of this world of nature are subject to decay and destruction. Shakespeare feels that his friend will stay beautiful forever in the immortal lines of his poetry despite the cruel blows of time. He thinks as long as people exist in this world and can see with their eyes open, they will read this sonnet. The more people will read, the more the beauty of his friend will be praised. And this reading gives life to his friend for all time in this mortal world.

6. “Every fair from fair sometime declines” — What does the poet mean to say by using ‘fair’ twice? What message does the poet want to convey here?

   Ans: By using ‘fair’ twice the poet means to all beautiful objects of nature and beauty as a whole. The first ‘fair’ refers to all beautiful objects of nature and the second ‘fair’ stands for beauty as a whole.

          Through the quoted line the poet conveys the message that every mortal objects of nature would lose its beauty either by chance of by nature’s changing course. It is predestined. Every objects or person undergoes a decline in beauty with the passage of time. Rough winds in summer destroy the buds which adorn every tree in May. Again the clouds dim the gold complexion of the sun. So nothing is permanent in nature.