Tag: Shakespeare

  • Shall I compare thee to a summer day? Solstice poetry by Shakespeare

    Shall I compare thee to a summer day? Solstice poetry by Shakespeare

    Dear Lovestar,

    Happy Solstice!

    I love taking pictures with the sun and this is just one of them in my back yard.

    I didn’t write a summer poem yet, so I decided to let Shakespeare do the speaking today.

    Read and enjoy one of the most popular and beloved poems ever by the most famous English poet.

    Shakespeare sonnet 18

    Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
    Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
    Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
    And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
    Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
    And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
    And every fair from fair sometime declines,
    By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
    But thy eternal summer shall not fade
    Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
    Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
    When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
    So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

    The poem in simple, modern language

    Can I compare you to a summer’s day?
    You’re more lovely and calm in every way:
    Harsh winds may shake the buds in May’s delight,
    And summer’s lease is brief, too short a stay.
    Sometimes the sun burns too hot in the sky,
    Its golden face obscured by passing clouds;
    And everything that’s fair will fade in time,
    By chance or nature’s ever-changing shroud.
    But your eternal beauty will not wane,
    Nor lose the beauty that you possess now;
    Nor will Death boast you wander in his shade,
    For in these lines you’ll live, eternal vow:
    As long as people breathe and see with eyes,
    So long as this endures, you never die.

    Did you love it? ❤️

    I guess if this poem was dedicated to me, I’d reply:

    “A summer day in Arizona (desert where I live)? Or a summer day in Michigan (where it snows and my mom lives) 😆 🤣 😂

    Joke aside,

    I’ll continue working with this poem to celebrate the solstice

    Eve