Line 1: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The speaker begins by posing a question, wondering if he should compare the person he loves to a summer’s day.
Line 2: “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” The speaker answers his own question by stating that the person is more lovely and moderate in their beauty compared to a summer’s day.
Line 3: “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,” The speaker describes the unpredictable and harsh nature of the winds that can harm the delicate buds of flowers in May.
Line 4: “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” The speaker comments that summer’s duration is brief, emphasizing its transience and limited time.
Line 5: “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,” The speaker acknowledges that at times, the sun can shine too intensely and become excessively hot.
Line 6: “And often is his gold complexion dimmed,” The speaker notes that the sun’s beautiful golden complexion can often be obscured or clouded.
Line 7: “And every fair from fair sometime declines,” The speaker observes that everything beautiful, including the natural world, eventually loses its beauty or fades away.
Line 8: “By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.” The speaker suggests that the loss of beauty can occur due to chance or the natural cycle of change, which cannot be avoided.
Line 9: “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” The speaker assures the person that their beauty will not fade like the transient summer but will remain eternal.
Line 10: “Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,” The speaker asserts that the person will not lose their beauty or its possession, emphasizing its perpetual nature.
Line 11: “Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade” The speaker declares that even death will not claim the person, indicating that their beauty will prevail beyond mortality.
Line 12: “When in eternal lines to time thou growest” The speaker explains that the person’s beauty will grow and be preserved in the eternal lines (words) of the poem.
Line 13: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,” The speaker suggests that as long as there are people who breathe and see, the poem will be read and the person’s beauty celebrated.
Line 14: “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” The sonnet concludes by stating that the poem itself will ensure the perpetuation of the person’s beauty and grant them a form of immortality.
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