s of verse. These lines will even make stronger and more beautiful as time proceeds, as line 12 points out. The use of the word “eternal” in this line as well as in line 9 (“eternal summer”) contrasts sharply with the idea of finiteness attached to “a summer’s day” (line 1) and “every fair” (line 7). The immortalisation is continued in the final lines: life will be preserved by the readers of these verses in years and years to come. The syntax and form in general work together. Most lines constitute a grammatical unity, there is no enjambment. The first words of the lines often indicate the beginning of a new grammatical unit. The word “and”, for example, is used as the opening word in three lines. A Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet. This also applies to sonnet 18. The first quatrain introduces the subject. The second quatrain presents a generalisation of the idea that no beauty lasts forever. The third quatrain, aptly introduced by “but” (a clear turn), states that the beauty of the person this poem is addressed to is something that cannot be touched by time. The final couplet, in very consistent iambic pentameter, encapsulates the idea of eternal life through versification. The meter is iambic pentameter and the rhythm is fairly regular throughout the sonnet. However, in a number of lines there are spondaic feet, used to emphasise threats to the beauty and the idea of eternity. Clear examples of this are the “Rough winds” in line 3 and the “death” that will not “brag” in line 11. In the latter example the threat of death is reinforced by the assonance between the words “death” and “brag”. Line 9 is an interesting line as regards the rhythm. For the last two feet reinforce the turn, introduced by the “But”. A regular rhythm would have a stress on “s...
