Like A Beautiful Smile

Sting's 'Like A Beautiful Smile' is a poetic and evocative song that draws heavily from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. The lyrics begin with the famous lines, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' and continue to explore themes of beauty, love, and immortality. By referencing Shakespeare, Sting elevates the song's romantic sentiment, suggesting that the subject's beauty is not only comparable to a summer's day but surpasses it in loveliness and temperance. The song's verses reflect on the transient nature of physical beauty and the inevitable passage of time, yet they also celebrate the enduring nature of true beauty and love.

The chorus, 'Like a beautiful smile / That fills I know why / Such a beauty won't die / It's eternity's mile / That we walk all this while,' reinforces the idea that true beauty and love are eternal. The metaphor of a smile symbolizes a moment of pure, unchanging joy that transcends the physical world. This eternal quality is further emphasized in the lines, 'But thy eternal summer shall not fade, / Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,' suggesting that the beloved's beauty will remain undiminished by time or death.

Sting's use of the metaphor 'Like a beautiful dream / That is just what it seems / We're just floating upstream / On eternity's beam' adds a layer of surrealism and dreaminess to the song. It implies that the experience of love and beauty is like a dream that feels real and everlasting. The song concludes with the powerful assertion that as long as people live and breathe, the beauty and love described in the song will continue to exist, immortalized in the lines of the song itself. This timeless quality of love and beauty is a central theme in Sting's work, reflecting his ability to blend classical influences with contemporary music to create something truly timeless.