Sentence 5 in Sonnet 18
This is a sentence in Middle English from Sonnet 18. It is composed of 32 words.
But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade, nor loose possession of that faire thou ow'st, nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade, when in eternall lines to time thou grow'st
but
but - coordinating conjunction
thy
your - pronoun
eternall
eternal - noun
Sommer
summer - proper noun
shall
shall - auxiliary
not
not - particle
fade
fade - verb
,
nor
nor - coordinating conjunction
loose
loose - adjective
possession
possession - noun
of
of - adposition
that
that - determiner
faire
fair - noun
thou
you - proper noun
ow'st
owe - proper noun
,
nor
nor - coordinating conjunction
shall
shall - auxiliary
death
death - noun
brag
brag - verb
thou
you - adjective
wandr'st
wander - noun
in
in - adposition
his
his - pronoun
shade
shade - noun
,
when
when - subordinating conjunction
in
in - adposition
eternall
eternal - noun
lines
to
to - particle
time
time - noun
thou
you - proper noun
grow'st
grow - noun
English translation
But your eternal summer will never fade, nor will you lose the beauty you possess; nor will death boast that you wander in his shade, for you will live on in these immortal lines.
Description
Analysis of the phrase in context.
With a turn in the poem, Shakespeare now promises that the beloved's beauty will remain unfading and eternal. By claiming that her eternall Sommer" will not diminish
Word sources
A quick overview of the meaning of each word and its etymology.
| but | but | but | From Old English būtan, from Proto-West Germanic *biūtan, *biūtini, equivalent to be- + out. |
| thy | thy | Alternative form of þe | |
| eternall | eternall | Alternative form of eternal | |
| Sommer | Sommer | ||
| shall | shall | ||
| not | not | not | Reduction of nought (from Old English nāwiht, nōwiht). |
| fade | fade | ||
| nor | nor | ||
| loose | loose | ||
| possession | possession | ||
| of | of | of | From Old English of, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“away; away from”). |
| that | that | that | From Old English þæt, þat, þet (“the, that”), from Proto-Germanic *þat. |
| faire | faire | fair | From Old English fæger |
| thou | thou | Alternative form of þou | |
| ow'st | ow'st | ||
| nor | nor | ||
| shall | shall | ||
| death | death | ||
| brag | brag | ||
| thou | thou | Alternative form of þou | |
| wandr'st | wandr'st | ||
| in | in | in | From Old English inn. |
| 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”). |
| shade | shade | ||
| when | when | Alternative form of whenne | |
| in | in | in | From Old English inn. |
| eternall | eternall | Alternative form of eternal | |
| lines | line | rope | From Old English līne, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ. Some forms and meanings are from Old French ligne. |
| to | to | to | From Old English tā, tāhe, from Proto-West Germanic *taihā, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ (“toe”). |
| time | time | Alternative form of tyme | |
| thou | thou | Alternative form of þou | |
| grow'st | grow'st |