A Brief Introduction
Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day? by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), is a poem which has a unique blend of charisma, depth, passion, perseverance, the guilt of age and the eternal death, whereas TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME, by Robert Herrick, has a blend of charisma, passion, commitment, love and the worth of youth and his achievements in practical terminology.
Theme of shall I compare thee to A summer’s day? By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare in his poem has tried to compare his beloved with the month of May, a bright summer month which is filled with joy, warmth and happiness (“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May”, line-3). In the poem, the poet has also tried to compare his love life with the effect of the sun on the skin of a fair maiden. He tries to explain through the symbolic representation of the glowering sun in the month of May, that love is a feeling which is sure to get affected by the sun’s rays through skin burn and is also likely to get influenced by the flowering buds, which seem to compliment the start of the spring season (“And often is his gold complexion dimm’d”, line-6).
William Shakespeare clearly states that love dwindles with time just like the complexion of a fair maiden shallows whence exposed to the harsh summer sun in the month of May. And although the skin may get burned with time, love tends to retain its original complexion and never one fades with the passage of time. It is therefore eternal in nature and it stays long after the two lovers have passed away. Love here is symbolic to the sun (“So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”, line-14).
Theme of the virgins, to make much of time by Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick, through the means of his splendid poem has tried to portray the essence of youth in a human life. While comparing and symbolizing it with the eternal sun, the poet clearly states that a human being should enjoy his youth while it lasts as very soon old age is going to encompass his frame and diminish his hopes like a nasty slap (“To-morrow will be dying, line-4). At the same time, the author tries to state that the sooner an individual tries to run towards his goals, the quicker he looses his energy, which in this context is derived from the sun, a symbolic representation of the universal source of infinite energy (“And nearer he’s to setting”,line-8).
Robert Herick has also tried to acknowledge the fact that youth is symbolic to enjoyment for this is a time when you can achieve your goals with a smiling face. Nonetheless, regardless of what you achieve in your youth, old age is inevitable and soon you would also perish like many others. The only remains which would be left behind are the achievements, which in this poem are symbolized by the universal source of vibrant energy-the sun (“Times still succeed the former”, line-12).
Compare and contrast
While both poems are similar in expression and are a symbolic representation of the life of a human being with the radiance of the sun, the comparative analysis and the research methodology, besides of course, the philosophy in both the poems, are varied and focused on individualistic approaches. While William Shakespeare is concerned with the love life of a human, Robert Herrick is more concerned with the achievements of an individual in his youth.
While both poets have categorically stated that the sun, which is symbolic to eternity, would remain steadfast, it is the perishable human, who would come as a young boy, whither with age and finally die. There has been an attempt by both the poets to differentiate their works through the presentation of their subjects in similar settings, which result in diverse outcomes.