Comparative Analysis of Shall I compare thee to a...

Comparative Analysis of Shall I compare thee to a summers day? by William Shakespeare and The Flea by John Donne Shall I compare thee by Shakespeare focuses on romantic love, whereas Donnes poem, The Flea is all about seduction and sexual love. The situations in the two poems are very different. In Shall I compare thee, the poet is shown as a lover who is addressing his lady. His tone is gentle and romantic. He starts with a rhetorical question to which he must answer and therefore he does not put demand upon the lady. The poem gives the impression that it is set perhaps in his room, where he is composing his poem. One thing is for sure and that is that the woman he is addressing is†¦show more content†¦Both poets use a three part argument although Shakespeares is in the form of a sonnet whilst Donnes is a three stanza poem. Shakespeares poem is a sonnet and consists of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The first two quatrains start with the rhetorical question Shall I compare theeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and the rest of this section answers this question. However, this question has an obvious answer of no because the next line says, Thou art more temperate and beautiful. The poet thinks she is perfect, unlike a summers day. He says that the summers day is sometime to hot and has rough windes, but she is more lovely. He uses personification in the line, And often is his gold complexion dimd. He uses this technique to show that the sun has a face, which glows, but not always and therefore shows that summer is not perfect, but she is. He describes her as being temperate which means that she is moderate compared to the temperamental weather of an English summer. This is one of the things he says to compliment her. The third quatrane starts with the word but, which signals a change to a different thought. In this quatrane, Shakespeare uses exaggerated claims to show how perfect she is. He says, Thy eternal Sommer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that faire thou owst. Here, he is explaining how much better than a summersShow MoreRelatedA Comparative Analysis of Shakespeares Shall I Compare Thee and Donnes The Flea1144 Words   |  5 PagesA Comparative Analysis of Shakespeares Shall I Compare Thee and Donnes The Flea In shall I Compare Thee Shakespeare is addressing a woman, although it is not clear who, the most likely person is his dark lady. Shakespeare addresses this woman directly in a charming way. The poem is not said to of been set in a particular place but I believe it is more then likely to of have been set in a garden because the things he compares the woman with are found outside. The poem