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 —“sonnet 18,” william shakespeare what is the central idea of the first quatrain? like summer, romance is beautiful but short-lived. beautiful weather makes people fall in love. the speaker’s beloved is more beautiful than a summer day. even rough winds cannot detract from the beauty of summer.