sonnet

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rime;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
’Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.


Shakespeare's purpose in writing Sonnet 55 was to show that love and his poetry are eternal, unlike all other things. He talks of how no matter what happens, love will be a constant because of the poetry he has written. Shakespeare uses tone, metaphors, comparisons and confidence to achieve his purpose.
In Sonnet 55 Shakespeare made several comparisons. “But you shall shine more bright in these contents Than unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.” (Shakespeare 3 - 4) He is saying that over time stone will wither away, along will all other things, except for love, and it will shine brightly. “The living record of your memory. ’Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity Shall you pace forth” (Shakespeare 8 – 10) He is saying that when put against death and violence of any kind, love won’t be stopped and will continue with full force.
Shakespeare uses the tone of writing in his poetry to enhance the effect. “Even in the eyes of all posterity That wear this world out to the ending doom.” (Shakespeare 10 – 11) He includes this dark imagery to show contrast between it and the lighter imagery he uses to define love “But you shall shine more bright in these contents” (Shakespeare 3) Shakespeare is seen here using light imagery to describe love. It is a common theme through out the poem.
The confidence used by Shakespeare helps him achieve the purpose because the reader can see that Shakespeare is very confident that love and this poetry will last through time. “You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.” (Shakespeare 14) His confidence is seen here. He is saying that love will live in this poetry and this poem will last forever. He also says that love will “dwell in lovers eyes”, meaning people will always feel love.
In Sonnet 55 Shakespeare used metaphors and comparisons to show that love will not be stopped by time or death. He used tone to subliminally describe love as a great thing and even when pitted against very evil things it will live on. He used confidence to show that he believed it was true and subconsciously drawing you into the belief as well. Shakespeare’s efforts did not go unnoticed