Natural imagery in sonnets like Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 18' conveys the theme of beauty and transience, using the natural world as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of life and the enduring power of poetry. The structure of the sonnet parallels the progressive and cyclical nature of the natural world.
The natural world is a prevalent theme in many sonnets, where poets use vivid imagery to draw parallels between the natural world and human emotions. Notably, William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" is rich in figurative language that connects the beauty and transience of nature to the idea of immortalizing love through poetry.
By comparing the beloved to a summer day, Shakespeare emphasizes the subject's superior beauty and constancy in contrast to the fleeting nature of the seasons. The metaphor suggests that, unlike summer, which fades, the beloved’s beauty will be preserved forever in the sonnet.
Imagery related to the natural world conveys the theme of the poem and affects its meaning by emphasizing the cyclical and changing nature of life, which mirrors the ups and downs of human experiences. The incorporation of natural elements into this sonnet serves as a metaphor for life's fleeting beauty, but also the enduring quality of art and written word.
Lastly, the structure of the sonnet itself, with its divisions into an octave and a sestet, can mirror the natural progression of thought, leading to a 'volta' or turn, which showcases a change in perspective or a solution to a problem presented in the poem.