Themes and message

Youth and beauty

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” is a tribute to a young man. One of the themes in the poem is that of youth and beauty. The whole sonnet is about finding a comparison that is good enough to capture this young man’s youth as well as his inner and outer beauty. Compared to a summer’s day, the young man is “more lovely and more temperate” (l. 1). 

The poem also deals with the consequences of ageing. Normally, a person’s beauty and youth will fade and eventually end in death. Consequently, everyone will forget that perso...