Question

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:
5Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
10Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st 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.

"Sonnet XVIII" by William Shakespeare, from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. In the public domain.

How does the comparison in line 1 of Sonnet XVIII contribute to the theme of the poem?

A.
It demonstrates that summer, like the poem's subject, has its flaws that are not obvious to the rest of the world.

B.
It illustrates that summer, like the poem's subject, returns to the speaker only one time per year and should be enjoyed.

C.
It introduces the link between summer and the poem's subject to illuminate the subject's enduring beauty.

D.
It expresses the speaker's admiration for the poem's subject, which is just as strong as the sunshine in summer.

Answer 1

C.

The opening question sets up the comparison between the beloved and a summer’s day so the poem can show how the beloved surpasses summer’s beauty and, by means of the poem’s “eternal lines,” will possess a lasting, unfading beauty.