According to historians, the Bard of Avon, the mastermind behind Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, was born 451 years ago today. In honor of Mr. Shakespeare’s birth, I’ve shared Sonnet 18, undoubtedly among the most famous of his 154 sonnets, Best of all, Mr. Rombach and I worked together to pen our own Shakespearean sonnet. On Friday, after you finish the first of three standardized tests (ugh), I invite you to investigate the man who, according to The European Graduate School, “altered the course of European and World literature.” 

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare 

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st,

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Sonnet 155 by Mr. and Mrs. Rombach (with a little help from the Bard)

Shall I compare thee to a schoolhouse day?
Thou art more lively and more literate:
Loud bells chime to get classes underway,
Mere weeks remain ’til bathing suits must fit:

Sometimes too heavy the sharp pencil weighs,
Multiple choice brings on multiple pains,
The tests they stretch on for too many days
Our brains and our hands, every part complains;

But thy elusive summer shall not fade
Sandy beaches beckon, calling our name
Bags bulge at the zippers, travel plans made,
Come June 16th, our freedom we shall claim

So long, Eagle Ridge, our work here is done
Fare thee well, sixth grade, we’re off to have fun.

 

Eager to try your hand at creating a Shakespearean sonnet? Click here for step-by-step instructions.

My apologies to Shakespeare enthusiasts. My dear husband informed me that my original source for Shakespeare’s birth was dead wrong. In 2015, the Bard would be 451 (not 399 as previously posted).