For my first task, I chose William Shakespeare's "how do I compare thee to a summers day." My initial reaction to the poem is one that I felt connected to the poem; the comparison of love to seasons and how they are so alike in human nature and nature overall. The highs and lows, the good and bad and through it all remain beautiful. Even though it was written many years ago I feel it is still applicable to life in general today, and to my life personally which I believe is the main thing about this poem that caught my eye and captured my attention. Having had to read this poem in Junior high and not having the experience of life nor "love" really at that time, it was a beautifully written poem but not one that I ever felt I related to personally. After re-reading it now as an adult having a husband, I feel a connection between his words and how they correlate with my feelings of love for my husband.
Shakespeare was relevant in the renaissance period. A time when the so-called "rebirth" began. Some of the finest artistic and intellectual achievements in history came from this era. It was a time of multiple themes such as humanism, and rationalism. The people began to focus on humanity and human culture in art and music. The study of developing medicine, how the eye perceives light and darkness, personal recognition and reformation all were pillars of this era. The reformation of the Roman Catholic church by Martin Luther King calling out churches, expressing dissent against malpractice and challenging doctrine was a large influencer of future eras/generations. The renaissance also embodied the age of discovery or "The age of exploration" as now people could travel around the world for foreign goods such as plants, food, and slaves. From this, they could also establish geopolitical dominance in other countries. Politics began to be viewed as an obligation with a non-religious realism that was a practice of human nature rather than divine intervention.
William Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer of the world's history and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. (Wikipedia) He is the most quoted person in history with his works dealing with plot, genre, characterization and the English language; which helped pave the way for the standardization of the English language. It is reported that in his time, Shakespeare used over 17,500 words and is said to have been the first person ever to use 1700 of them. He combined new words by mixing different languages and established phrases such as "full circle" to describe something coming back around to the beginning.
The theme that I interpreted from William Shakespeare "how do I compare thee to a summers day" would be that of Humanism. Because he takes something that is recurrent and description yearly (I.e. Summer) and transforms it to correlate with that of a person; I think he is focusing on the embodiment of humanity, of the human culture and that most importantly of the human form. Just like summer is beautiful and unpredictable (by weather/temperature) it also goes by quickly and can change, his lover's best attributes can be compared to that of summers beauty. Some days are hot, some days are cloudy and unknown, but he will always see her as beautiful as the summer that he loves; which I perceive as warm, beautiful, colorful, easy going/enjoyable. Even after she is gone from him, he stills her as beautiful and conveys that the world will always see her that way based on his written words.
Humanism emphasizes our common humanity, i.e., individuality and collectiveness with a focus on the use of critical thinking to mold morality rather than turning to superstition. Despite the poem having been written in the sixteenth century, it remains very relevant in this day and age. Through the poem, Shakespeare identifies that time is a cruel master and seeks to eternalize beauty through poetry. From this, it is possible to note that the poet conveys the impermanence of life and gives us a way to be immortal through our actions (in particular through art).
Since the dawn of civilization, there has only been one certainty (death). Even with our technologies, we mortals cannot escape death. However, through our contributions to society, it is possible to eternalize our lives. It is through this sonnet that the vanity of life and its pleasures, e.g., physical beauty is laid bare and William nudges us to embrace the beauty in art and other testaments that will stand the test of time.
In conclusion, learning about the author and the period (sixteenth century) helped me better understand Williams work in various ways. First, the sixteen century is when the renaissance began, and collective creativity (enlightenment) rose in the western world. Art and sciences began to take over man's culture and shape civilization into what it is today. Because of this, the importance and impact of sonnet eighteen are better understood.
