Question

read the passage and answer the following question(s).
sonnet 18
shall i compare thee to a summers day?
thou art more lovely and more temperate:
rough winds do shake the darling buds of may,
and summers lease hath all too short a date:
sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
and often is his gold complexion dimmd;
and every fair from fair sometime declines,
by chance or natures changing course untrimmd;
but thy eternal summer shall not fade
nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
nor shall death brag thou wanderst in his shade,
when in eternal lines to time thou growest:
so long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
so long lives this and this gives life to thee.
william shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
public domain
read the following lines from the poem.
when in eternal lines to time thou growest:
so long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
so long lives this and this gives life to thee.
how do these lines help establish the point of view of the poet?
a. in these lines, the poet is stating that as long as humankind exists, his love will live on through his poetry.
b. in these lines, the poet is stating that his love for the object of his affections will only grow with time.
c. in these lines, the poet is describing how the beauty of his love will one day wither and fade with age.
d. in these lines, the poet is describing how in spite of the fact that his love is aging, he will love her until his death.

Explanation:

The lines "When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee" suggest that the poet's work (the poem) will endure as long as humanity exists. This implies that through his poetry, his love (for the subject of the poem) will also live on.

• Option B is incorrect as there is no indication in these lines about the love growing with time.
• Option C is incorrect as the lines are about the love (through the poem) not fading, not about it withering.
• Option D is incorrect as these lines are more about the longevity of the poem (and thus the love it represents) through human existence rather than the poet's love until his death.

Answer:

A. In these lines, the poet is stating that as long as humankind exists, his love will live on through his poetry.