Example 3 – Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18 image

The son’s net (sonnet) was a golden one, which he received for his 18^th birthday.

Sonnet 18 was written by William Shakespeare

They even brought a compere (shall I compare) on to announce that his 18^th birthday present was his son’s net (sonnet).

So now you have the title and the start of the first line. You now have to learn each line:

Sonnet 18

(Press within the boxes below to reveal the mnemonic image, then select 'back to poem' to return to the list.)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

A day of art

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

What a temper, the cloud really blew off some rough winds

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

When were maypoles and summer ever not connected?

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

The date was too hot

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

She shines her shoes often

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

Dimmed because every fair was allowed only one light bulb

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

On a decline, they took a chance

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;

Her beard was untrimmed and went on eternally

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Faded map means pirate may not get possession of treasure

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;

Don't owe money to Death

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

Death shade was an eternal line

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;

She could grow the very long vegetables

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

She can see how long lives this tree

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Link 1

Link DAY to ART

link art and day

Every day, she produced a different work of art.

Link 2

Link TEMPERATE to ROUGH WINDS

Link temperature and rough winds

What a temper (temperate). The cloud really blew some rough winds.

Link 3

Link MAY to SUMMER

link may and summer

When were Maypoles and summer ever not connected?

Link 4

Link DATE to TOO HOT

link date and too hot

The date was too hot.

Link 5

Link SHINES to OFTEN

link shines and often

She always shines her shoes. How often? Always!

Link 6

Link DIMMED to EVERY FAIR

link dimmed and every fair

The light was dimmed because every fair was allowed only one light bulb.

Link 7

Link DECLINE to CHANCE

link decline and chance

On a decline, they took a chance.

Link 8

Link UNTRIMMED to ETERNAL

link untrimmed and eternal

Her beard was untrimmed and went on eternally.

Link 9

Link FADE to LOSE POSSESSION

Link fade with loose possession

The map was so faded that the pirate feared he would lose possession of the buried treasure.

Link 10

Link OWE to DEATH

link owe and death

Don’t owe money to death!

Link 11

Link SHADE to ETERNAL LINE

link shade and eternal line

Death’s shade was an eternal line.

Link 12

Link GROW to LONG

link grow and long

She can grow long vegetables – the longest in the world, in fact!

Link 13

Link SEE to LONG LIVES THIS

link see with long live this

The girl can see how long lives this tree.