Theme of immortality in Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 18' and 'Sonnet 55'

The power of immortality is one of the main themes in William Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 18' and 'Sonnet 55'. It is a stock theme which had been used by many poets, but nearly all of them were mainly concerned with their own fame in the future. Shakespeare uniquely thinks poetry as a tool to immortalize his friend. He is not concerned with his own glory. The Roman poets say: “Because of my poems I will never die”. But Shakespeare says: “Because of my poems you will never die”.

What distinguishes Shakespeare is that he values the identity of his friend and wants to immortalize him through his verses. Both in 'Sonnet 18' and 'Sonnet 55', we find an impassioned burst of confidence as the poet claims to have the power to keep his friend’s memory alive forever.

In 'Sonnet 18', the poet starts with his hyperbolic attitude towards his friend:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:" 

Comparing his friend's beauty to that of a summer's day, the poet says that his friend outshines the summer day by far in respect of beauty because a summer day has many defects. Comparing the transient beauty of a summer's day the friend of the poet is more lovely and lively. Unlike summer's beauty, the beauty of his friend is eternal as well. Here, Shakespeare is haunted by the fear of death. He knows that the icy hands of death will be laid upon all alike.

"And every fair from fair sometimes declines

By chance, or natures changing course, untrimmed."

So, the poet seeks for an alternative way to preserve the 'unalloyed' beauty of his friend. He tries to immortalize the beauty of his friend by his powerful verses.

In the final coupler of 'Sonnet 18', the poet re-affirms his hopes that 'so long' as mankind lives and 'so long: as they read this poem,  the memory of the fair youth of his friend will remain alive to the coming generations of mankind and the friend of the poet will never be the victim of forgetfulness or death.

"So long as man can breathe or eyes can see

So long lives this and this gives life to thee."

In 'Sonnet 55' also, Shakespeare intends to immortalize his friend through his poetry. At the very beginning he expressed his firm belief that nothing shall outlive his 'powerful verses'. He says:

"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments

Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhymes. "

For him, poetry will last longer than the great monuments which were built to immortalize the great kings and princes.  Shakespeare says that the memory of his friend will be immortalized through his poetry because time will not affect it and it will outlive everything as time can affect only the material things like the marbles and monuments. It can't affect poetry because poetry is kept in books and the minds of the people.

Shakespeare boldly claims that the memory of his friend that he recorded in his 'powerful rhymes' will never be burnt/erased by any natural or man-made phenomena.  He says:

"Not mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn

The living record of your memory."

He says that everything will be ruined- like the monuments will be besmeared by time, the statues and masonry will be destroyed by wars or civil disturbance- but his friend will remain alive through his poems. He claims that even the sword of the Mars ( Roman god of war) and fire of war cannot erase the 'living record ' of his friend's memory.

Also his friend's memory will not be affected by the oblivion that comes with enmity and death, will last and find room in the minds of coming generations.

"Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity

Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room

Even in the eyes of all posterity."

Like "Sonnet 18", in "Sonnet 55" also Shakespeare gives a bold declaration about the durability of his poem and immortality of his beloved friend. The final couplet states:

"So, till the judgment that yourself arise

You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes."

Shakespeare says that, till the judgment day comes, his friend's memory will live in this poem and he will live in the lovers' eyes when they read this sonnet as an expression of their own feelings for each other.

Both 'Sonnet 18' and 'Sonnet 55' express Shakespeare's devotion for his beloved friend. We can see his firm conviction about the durability of his writings too, but more than anything else what makes them unique is his bold declaration about the immortality of his friend that he created through his powerful verses in 'Sonnet 18' and in 'Sonnet 55'.