"And This Gives Life to Thee..."

Shall I compare you to a summer's day? (this sets the theme of the poem, or at least I think it does...)

Thou art more lovely and more temperate (the poem in some kind of summary: "you" the beloved are more wonderful than summer - what follows are the 'failings' of even such an incredible thing as summer):

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (flowers fall?)

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: (summer ends too soon?)

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (tropical people should know)

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (British weather?)

And every fair from fair sometime declines, (not sure if the 'fair' here refers to summer, or is it physical beauty in general? What I am sure of is that this is a super phrase: "Fair from fair"? Oww!)

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; 

But thy eternal summer shall not fade (ahh, so the 'summer' which is/(of) the beloved lasts like for-ever)

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (as does her beauty...)

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (the beloved's beauty and stature increases over time?)

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (ever-lasting and ever-enriching life of/for the beloved? I'm blown away - seriously.)

Read the poem slowly. Don't be satisfied until you can translate every mind-busting line into everyday-language prose. And the next time you want to express your heart to someone or about something, say it like Willie does. It's a dash of bright colour on the bland, vulgar and grim canvas of language.

Like a normal weekend given life by some exciting firsts.