The First Impression, Figures of Speech, and Parody in Two Poems with the Same Name Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day by Shakespeare and Moss

The Introduction

In this essay, I would like to analyze two poems that have the same titles. One is "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?" written by William Shakespeare. The other also has the same title, "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?" written by Howard Moss. In fact, the two poems have not only the same titles but also similar stories. In other words, Moss's poem is a parody of Shakespeare's poem. By the way, how are they different and also similar?

The First Impression of Two Poems

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When I first read both Shakespeare's poem and Moss's poem, I could not understand Shakespeare's thought. What I feel about his poem is that it seems to be very unusual while Moss's poem looks very natural. I mean that it is hard to read rather than hard to understand because there are some old English words. For example, Shakespeare states,

1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? - 1st line
2. Thou art more lovely and more temperate - 2nd line
3. And summer's lease hath all too short a date -4th line

He used 'thee' and 'thou' instead of 'you' and 'your'. He did not use 'have but used'hath'. I feel old English styles of the 16th century through his poem.

A Figure of speech

One of the other reasons that make this poem unusual is that it includes many figures of speech. A figure of speech is an expression or use of language to achieve a particular effect. Figures of speech also include metaphors and similes. There are some metaphors in Shakespeare's poem while Moss's poem is made up of very typical sentences. I think that 'summer's day' in Shakespeare's poem includes lots of meaning. He mentions the day like the paragraph 1. Moss also states, Who says you're like one of the dog days? -1 You're nicer. And better. -2 And a summer sub-let doesn't last forever. -4 As you know, both the summer's day and the dog days could mean just hot weather in summer. However, the 'summer's day' includes more connotative meanings.

I guess that the day that Shakespeare thought stands for someone whom Shakespeare had loved. I also suggest that 'summer's day' stands for human life. Shakespeare's poem tells me with the connotations of the word whereas Moss's poem gives me only literal meaning very intuitively. In addition, I find metaphor in Shakespeare's poem that is 'complexion'. He utters, And other is his gold complexion dimmed; In fact, 'complexion' is the quality and color of the skin. However, this word also includes an aspect, a viewpoint and someone's character. Therefore his gold complexion dimmed' could mean that he cannot stay himself young forever. The part could also suggest that his good character disappeared. However, in Moss's poem, I just find the description of the weather.

Parody

Shakespeare's poem and Moss's poem are similar to each other. As I mentioned in the introduction, the reason is that Moss parodied Shakespeare. Parody is a piece of writing or music that deliberately copies another work in a comic or satirical way. For instance, Shakespeare states, And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed But thy eternal summer shall not fade, However, Moss parodies the poem. Who can stay young forever? People break their necks or just drop dead! But you? Never! I think that Howard Moss tried to translate Shakespeare's connotative words into uncomplicated words. So, the poem helps me for the understanding of the Shakespeare's poem.

Conclusion

Until now, I tried to analyze how two poems different and also similar are. I saw
some old English words in the original poem so that I could learn how old English different
from current English was. I also learned a figure of speech so that the original poem gives me
deep meanings. On the other hand, the parody helps me for the explanation of the original. I
could feel that the original had a lot of metaphors through the parody. The parody also gave
me a sense of humor because I already knew the original. Therefore, I think that they obviously interact with each other.

Works Cited

1. Shakespeare, William. "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 765-766
2. Moss, Howard. "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 766
3. Definition. "A figure of speech" Encarta World English Dictionary

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