Sentence 4 in Sonnet 18
This is a sentence in Middle English from Sonnet 18. It is composed of 30 words.
Sometime too hot the eye of heauen shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm'd, and euery faire from faire some-time declines,By chance, or natures changing course vntrim'd:
sometime
sometime - adverb
too
too - adverb
hot
hot - adjective
the
the - determiner
eye
eye - noun
of
of - adposition
heauen
heaven - proper noun
shines
,
and
and - coordinating conjunction
often
often - adverb
his
his - pronoun
gold
gold - noun
complexion
complexion - noun
dimm'd
dimmed - verb
,
and
and - coordinating conjunction
euery
every - proper noun
faire
fair - noun
from
from - adposition
faire
fair - noun
some
some - determiner
-
time
time - noun
declines
declines - noun
decline
,
chance
chance - noun
,
or
or - coordinating conjunction
natures
changing
course
course - noun
vntrim'd
untrimmed - numeral
:
English translation
Sometimes the sun shines too hot, and often its golden face is dimmed; Every beautiful thing loses its beauty at times, by chance, or by nature’s unadorned course.
Description
Analysis of the phrase in context.
Shakespeare continues to critique the natural elements by pointing out that the sun itself can be excessively harsh or unexpectedly obscured, and that all beauty eventually wanes under the inevitable passage of time or the whims of fate. This line underscores the idea that while nature is subject to change and decay, these flaws make it an unreliable standard for measuring true beauty. It deepens the contrast between the mutable beauty of nature and the ideal, lasting beauty of the beloved.
Word sources
A quick overview of the meaning of each word and its etymology.
| sometime | sometime | ||
| too | too | ||
| hot | hot | hot | From Old English hāt. |
| the | the | Alternative form of þe | |
| eye | eye | awe | From Old English eġe, from Proto-West Germanic *agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égʰos. Doublet of awe. |
| of | of | of | From Old English of, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“away; away from”). |
| heauen | heauen | ||
| shines | shine | Alternative form of schyne | |
| and | and | and | From Old English and, ond, end, from Proto-West Germanic *andi, from Proto-Germanic *andi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti. |
| often | often | repeatedly | From ofte. |
| is | be | Alternative form of been | From Old English bēon. |
| his | his | Third-person singular masculine genitive pronoun: his. | From Old English his, from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). |
| gold | gold | gold | From Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“yellow; gleam; to shine”). |
| complexion | complexion | ||
| dimm'd | dimm'd | ||
| and | and | and | From Old English and, ond, end, from Proto-West Germanic *andi, from Proto-Germanic *andi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti. |
| euery | euery | ||
| faire | faire | fair | From Old English fæger |
| from | from | from | From Old English from, fram and Old Norse frá, both from Proto-Germanic *fram. |
| faire | faire | fair | From Old English fæger |
| some | some | ||
| time | time | Alternative form of tyme | |
| declines | decline | ||
| By | by | by | Inherited from Old English bī, from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi. |
| chance | chance | Alternative form of chaunce | |
| or | or | or | From ọ̄̆ther and outher. |
| natures | nature | the Universe | Borrowed from Old French nature, from Latin nātūra. |
| changing | change | Alternative form of chaungen | |
| course | course | Alternative form of cours | |
| vntrim'd | vntrim'd |