Shakespeare’s self-assured claim makes it possible to argue that the purpose of the poem was not actually to pay a beloved person a compliment but rather to praise oneself for poetic skill. Evidence of Shakespeare writing this poem for the purpose of praising himself occurs subtly throughout the entire text. In the very first line, for example, due to the rhythmic structure the word ‘I’ is emphasised whereas the word ‘thee’ is not. This suggests that Shakespeare wanted to focus on himself rather than on his love. Likewise in the third quatrain, he personifies death and states that it will not ‘brag’ to power over Shakespeare’s love – this could be interpreted as Shakespeare stating that he will be the one who brags rather than death. Critics have also argued that since Shakespeare chose not to describe his love’s physical features, he was more concerned about praising himself rather than his love