Death is a fate all must face, however within Shakespeare offers a glance at the everlasting quality of love even when youth fades through the power of creation. Within this sonnet there lies a central image of youth being conveyed in nature’s semblance through the use of the seasons to represent life’s fleeting moments and with it, the brevity of love. Shakespeare conveys the belief that love will live on through the beholders power of creation. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 captures the evolution of youth and love from a roaring flame to a fading bead of light as well as the ability of the beholder to capture the simplistic beauty of love for eternity.
In Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare uses the seasons to portray life as a brief and passing state with emphasis on the fleeting moments of youth in the symbolic use of “a summer’s day.” Summer is traditionally recognized as a symbol of youth, vibrance, and passion, so it fails to surprise when Shakespeare utilizes the same symbolism and imagery in order to capture the beauty of a fleeting life. This can be seen in the lines, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate,” which goes to show that he view the subject of the sonnet as youthful and vibrant, yet fleeting none the less. Shakespeare continues on to portray the brevity of life in the line, “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date,” which means that even summer will come to an end before one’s very eyes. William Shakespeare captures the fleeting moments of life through the central image of nature’s ever changing seasons in Sonnet 18.
Within Sonnet 18 Shakespeare captures the power of creation to extend the memory of a person long after they are gone through those who witness the creation. This sonnet reflects upon how fleeting life and love is, yet given the right tools it can be crafted to last for eternity in the hearts and minds of many. “Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,” is an excellent example of Shakespeare’s denial that with time comes the fading of memory. He is using personification in relation to death in order to establish the point that despite the end of a fleeting life there is the potential to live on for eternity. The lines that support this are, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this give life to thee.” This phrase means that as long as people continue to recognize and recount this sonnet the memory of the person it is written for will live on in eternity through their acknowledgement of it. Shakespeare is saying that the power of creation enables people to craft memories of those around them in order to give life to their memory even after their brief existence in this world is surpassed. Sonnet 18 captures the essence of creation, which is to capture or create beauty in order to preserve a memory of the past.
In Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare, the symbolism of life as a vibrant yet fleeting summer day continues onward to consulting the ability of creation to preserve this vibrance for the future generations. As Shakespeare recognizes, life is brief, yet it can be extended for an indefinite time by enabling those who look by an object to look upon, whether it be a sonnet, a painting, or even a structure. In Sonnet 18 Shakespeare claims that even death cannot harness what continues to live on in the hearts and minds of the living, so as long as it continues to be acclaimed it will grant breathe to an otherwise drowned figure in history.