Sonnet 73

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Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

Sonnet 73, one of Shakespeare's most famous and best regarded, focuses upon the theme of old age, with each of the three quatrains encompassing a metaphor. The sonnet is pensive and wistful in tone, and is written to a young friend. See: Mr. W.H. It is written both as a warning about the his own eventual death, but also the death of the young man's youth. The first metaphor describes a tree with only a few remaining leaves, shaking its branches against the choir of an abandoned church. Changing seasons are used to portray old age as "When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang", as leaves presumably being symbols of youth and vitality. The leaves eventually wither, with only few scattered ones remaining on "those boughs which shake against the cold". Here Shakespeare presents himself as an old, beleaguered man fighting the life's icy wind with the last hanging leaves of his youth. The branches sway and collide with a roofless, ruined church, the choir, where "late the sweet birds sang", or where there was once joy and song. Some critics have argued that the "choir" intended by Shakespeare is not a choir at all, but high branches of the tree. But the original explanation is particularly likely, because during Shakespeare's time, there were many abandoned, often vandalized monasteries and abbies following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The second quatrain is a more traditional metaphor, comparing his age in life to a setting sun, which is enveloped by night, or "Death's second self", which is a comparison to sleep.

The third and final metaphor is a powerful image of a dying fire, being "consumed by that which it was nourish'd by", or suffocating in its own ashes. Shakespeare is expressing that what once fueled him in his youth now is going to be the cause of his eventual death. However the metaphor of seasons and of the sun setting are both suggestive of cycles. However at the end of the sonnet the writer acknowledges that life is not a cyclic process and that he will eventually die. It is also interesting to note that the length of each transition noted in the metaphors declines. First, a season, then a day, then a few hours (the fire).

The couplet explains to the young man that the feelings of stronger love he is feeling towards him are emanating from the knowledge of his imminent death.

[edit] See also

• Shakespeare's sonnets

[edit] External link

• Sparknotes reading of sonnet 73