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Sonnet18WilliamShakespeareShallIcomparetheetoasummer'sday?/ei/aThouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate./eit/bRoughwindsdoshakethedarlingbudsofMay,/ei/aAndsummer'sleasehathtooshortadate./eit/bSometimetoohottheeyeofheavenshines,/aiz/cAndoftenishisgoldcomplexiondimm’d;/imd/dAndeveryfairfromfairsometimedeclines,/aiz/cBychance,ornature'schangingcourse,untrimm’d./imd/dButthyeternalsummershallnotfade,/eid/eNorlosepossessionofthatfairthouow'st;/əʊst/fNorshallDeathbragthouwand'restinhisshade,/eid/eWhenineternallinestotimethougrow'st./əʊst/fSolongasmencanbreathe,oreyescansee,/i:/gSolonglivesthis,andthisgiveslifetothee./i:/gIntroduction(起)-----Elucidation(承)-----Transition(转)-----Conclusion(合)Sonnet18isoneofthebest-knownof154sonnetswrittenbytheEnglishplaywrightandpoetWilliamShakespeare.Fromphonologicallevel,thepoemconsistsof14lines,threequatrainsfollowedbyacouplet.Eachlineinthissonnetcontainstensyllablesandiswritteniniambicpentameter,inwhicheachlinehasfivefeet,inotherwords,apatternofanunstressedsyllablefollowedbyastressedsyllableisrepeatedfivetimes.Forexample,thefirstlinecanbedividedintofiveindependentfeetas“ShallI/compare/theeto/asum/mer'sday”withstressesonI,-pare,to,sum-,dayrespectively.Therhymeschemeofthispoemisa-b-a-b,c-d-c-d,e-f-e-f,g-g.Thelastwordofline1“day”andthatofline3“May”havethesameendrhyme:/ei/;line2andline4rhymewith/eit/.Thesefourlinesformaquatrain.Similarly,thefourlinesfromline5toline8formthesecondquatrain,andline9toline12thethirdquatrain.However,thelasttwolineshavetheendrhyme:/i:/andformacouplet.Usually,atheme(problem,situationoridea)isdevelopedandelaboratedinthequatrainsandaconcludingthought(solution,commentorsummary)ispresentedinthecouplet.The7rhymesthroughoutthepoemcontributetotherealizationoftextualcoherencebyphonologicalcohesion.Line6andline7beginwiththesameword“And”;line10andline11“Nor”;thelasttwolines“So”.Therepetitionofthefirstwordcanenhancethestrengthofthepoem.Forinstance,therepetitionof“So”strengthenstheeternityofbeauty.Thepoeminlinehasalliteration(“shall”and“summer”inline1,“do”and“darling”inline3,“summer”and“short”inline4,“chance”and“changing”inline8,“shall”and“shade”inline11,and“long”,“lives”and“life”inthelastlline),assonance(“or”and“course”inline8,“but”and“summer”inline9,and“lines”and“time”inline12)andrhyme(“winds”and“buds”inline3,“chance”and“course”inline8,“lives”and“gives”,and“this”and“thee”inthelastline).Allthesenotonlyreflecttheformalbeautyofpoetry,butalsoembodythebeautyofvocalrangeandphonologicalharmony.Fromlexicallevel,oldwordsareusedinthissonnet.Forexample,thee=you(宾格),thou=you(主格),thy=your,art=are,hath=has,sometime=sometimes.Fromtherhetoricalperspective，somefiguresofspeechareinuseinthissonnetlikesimile(thee—asummer’sday),metaphor(summer’sduration—alease,thesun—theeyeofheaven),personification(summer—hasashortlease,sun—hasgoldencomplexion,death—bragtheeinhisshade,poem—giveslifetothee),inversion(line11,line14),rhetoricquestion(line1),exaggeration(theeternalsummer,line11),pun(line7)andparadox.Fromtheperspectiveofcontentandstructure,line1—2areproposal;line3—12areargument;line13—14areconclusion.Inthefirsttwolinesofthepoem,thespeakercompareshisbelovedtothesummerseason,intheformofaflatteringrhetoricquestiontothebelovedandafirmanswerthathisbelovedisbetter,morebeautifulandlessextremethansummer.SummerischosenasthecomparisontargetbecauseinEngland,summerisnothotbutcomfortablywarmanditisthemostpleasantseasonoftheyear.Inaddition,summerstandsforyouthfulness.Thenthenextsixlineslistsomenegativethingsaboutsummer:thewindistoostrong—“RoughwindsdoshakethedarlingbudsofMay”;summerisshort—summer'sleasehathalltooshortadate,andsometimesthesunistoohot—Sometimetoohottheeyeofheavenshines.However,thebelovedhasbeautythatwilllastforever,unlikethefleetingbeautyofasummer'sday.Byputtinghislove'sbeautyintotheformofpoetry,thepoetispreservingitforever.Thelover'sbeautywillliveon,throughthepoemwhichwilllastaslongasitcanberead.Healsostatesthathisbelovedwillliveonforeverthroughthewordsofthepoem.Fromthethematiclevel,seefromtheshallowlayer,thepoemissimplytopraisethebeautyofthebeloved.Whileinadeepsense,itexpressesthatthebeautyinnatureistransient,suchasanicesummer’sday,whiletheartingeneral(poetryinparticular)isimmortal.Shakespearehasaresolutefaiththatpoetrycandefytimeandlastforever.