Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, is an exercise in self-proclaiming metaphoric style. The intent of the sonnet is to show off the writer's skill at turning words and not the expressed topic of the poem, the ability to use every summer-related metaphor he can to discuss not his love, perhaps, but the subject of his expression. While many interpretations of this sonnet assert that it is a love-poem, that it is a dedication or ode to a specific woman, it can be clearly stated that the poem is not about love, but about the central metaphor itself - as though the subject is simply an exercise. As an exercise in the use of metaphor to describe the objectified woman at the center of the work, Sonnet 18, is perhaps the primary archetypal demonstration of overdone, syrupy, and quite saccharine expressions that are likely to appeal to the "hopeless" romantic.

Sonnet 18, takes...
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