It is a sentence in English, using modern words except the obsolete (but still used) pronoun "thee", for which we can substitute "you". It means "Shall I compare you to a summer's day?" If that is not clear, you need a lesson in how to read English, which means you don't understand my answer either.
These words are not in a play. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" is the first line of Shakespeare's sonnet number XVIII (18), officially dedicated to the Dark Lady.
This is the first line of Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare suggests that the memory of beauty will be immortalized in the sonnet. (see related question)
In the last line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, "this" refers to the poem itself, which immortalizes the beauty of the subject. By expressing that the subject's beauty will live on through the verses, Shakespeare suggests that art can preserve and confer eternal life to fleeting beauty. Thus, "this" signifies the enduring power of poetry to capture and maintain the essence of the beloved.
In the last line of Sonnet 18, "this" refers to the poem itself, which immortalizes the beauty of the beloved through verse. By declaring that the poem will live on and preserve the beloved's beauty, Shakespeare emphasizes the power of art to transcend time and mortality. Thus, "this" signifies the enduring nature of poetic expression.
"Too hot the eye of heaven shines" The eye of heaven is the sun. "Thy eternal summer shall not fade" Your youth shall not fade. There are a few metaphors/personification.
These words are not in a play. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" is the first line of Shakespeare's sonnet number XVIII (18), officially dedicated to the Dark Lady.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
This is the first line of Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare suggests that the memory of beauty will be immortalized in the sonnet. (see related question)
The literary terms in "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" by William Shakespeare include sonnet (14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme), metaphor (comparing the beauty of the person to a summer's day), and iambic pentameter (meter with five metrical feet per line).
An example of iambic pentameter is the line "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. This line consists of five iambs (unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable), making it iambic pentameter.
A decasyllabic line consists of ten syllables, typically following a specific rhythmic pattern. In English poetry, this often aligns with iambic pentameter, where each line alternates unstressed and stressed syllables. An example of a decasyllabic line is "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.
Sonnet 18 - Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day - is one of Shakespeare's 'fair youth' sonnets: a sequence of sonnets Shakespeare wrote to a young man which alternate between complimenting him on how beautiful he is, and urging him to marry and have children (because it is a waste when beautiful people die without children). Sonnet 18 compares the young man to a summer day; but suggests that the young man is better - partly because the weather in summer is changeable, but most of all because summer passes, but the young man will live forever (in Shakespeare's poem). It is unusual among the 'fair youth' sonnets inasmuch as it doesn't overtly suggest that the young man needs to get married and have children (since he can achieve immortality through Shakespeare's poem). Does this mean we should take it at face value (rarely a good idea with anything written by Shakespeare)? I don't think it does.
In the last line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, "this" refers to the poem itself, which immortalizes the beauty of the subject. By expressing that the subject's beauty will live on through the verses, Shakespeare suggests that art can preserve and confer eternal life to fleeting beauty. Thus, "this" signifies the enduring power of poetry to capture and maintain the essence of the beloved.
Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"), "Sonnet 130" ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), and Petrarch's "Sonnet 90" ("She used to let her golden hair fly free").
In the last line of Sonnet 18, "this" refers to the poem itself, which immortalizes the beauty of the beloved through verse. By declaring that the poem will live on and preserve the beloved's beauty, Shakespeare emphasizes the power of art to transcend time and mortality. Thus, "this" signifies the enduring nature of poetic expression.
In this poem Shakespeare is comparing this woman's beauty to that of a summer's day. Shakespeare wrote over one hundred sonnets about her, each an attempt to summarize her beauty. This sonnet has four quatrains and a rhyming couplet, in an A/B rhyming scheme, the thing that makes the poem special is the attention to detail. Each line has ten syllables, this of course is not a coincidence rather a way of ensuring the poem has good flow. Shakespeare begins his poem with a question, "Shall I Compare thee to a summer's day?" This makes us want to read on, throughout this first quatrain Shakespeare sums up the factors that mar a summers day, "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May." He tells us that her beauty will always be immortal because she is perfection itself.She is so pretty, so smart, so utterly perfect to him that "Thy eternal summer shall not fade" Shakespeare says she will always be remembered and it is true because here we are 400 years later reading about her beauty in this sonnet. Shakespeare portrays the most stunning images in his mind, the eye of heaven, the darling buds of May, but what makes her different is her immortality, the eye of heaven will fade,the darling buds of May will die, as is the natural cycle. But Shakespeare breaks the natural cycle by putting pen to paper and immortalizing this woman in this sonnet "So long as men can breathe and eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee." The stunning images Shakespeare shows us of love make this truly one of the best poems ever written.
"Too hot the eye of heaven shines" The eye of heaven is the sun. "Thy eternal summer shall not fade" Your youth shall not fade. There are a few metaphors/personification.