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Sonnet 18
by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
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Guntbert “Gunny” Markefka is a singer-songwriter from Hannover, Germany. Since 2020 over 40 of his single releases have been released via the digital distribution label “GEMA Music-Hub.” His Great Poetry Songs can be heard here. He earned his Ph.D. at Hannover University, developed world patents in the area of Natural Language Understanding Technologies during his 20+ year career at T-Mobile / Deutsche Telekom, and served as an international director on the board of various telecom associations. Since 2020 he has been a member of the Society of Classical Poets.
This is a nicely done rendition as if from the past.
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
Wow!
Thank you, Paul!
Well done in a close-to-contemporary style, Gunny, including repetitions of the last line for long fade out. I notice you also take a performer’s privilege of slight changes in the text, omitting “or” in line 8 and perhaps adding “though” in line 11, if that’s not a repetition of “thou.” Good to alternate between emphasis and relaxation. I once heard poet Robert Bly sing Sonnet 18 a cappella using a tune from about 1600, which he selected because it had long notes where long vowels occur in the poem. Different styles, both effective.
A fine analysis! Thank you.
Your singing brings this beautiful sonnet to life.
Thank you.
Yes, I agree. Music can do this.