To what season does the speaker compare his time of life in Sonnet VII?

Poem by William Shakespeare

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Sonnet 73 in the 1609 Quarto
Q1 Q2 Q3 C That fourth dimension of year k mayst in me behold, When yellowish leaves, or none, or few, exercise hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Blank ruined choirs, where late the sweetness birds sang; In me thou seest the twilight of such 24-hour interval As later on sunset fadeth in the westward, Which by and by black night doth take abroad, Death'south second self that seals up all in rest; In me one thousand seest the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the deathbed whereon it must elapse, Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by; This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy dearest more than stiff, To dear that well, which thou must go out ere long. 4 viii 12 14 —William Shakespeare[1]

Sonnet 73, ane of the most famous of William Shakespeare'due south 154 sonnets, focuses on the theme of erstwhile age. The sonnet addresses the Fair Youth. Each of the three quatrains contains a metaphor: Autumn, the passing of a day, and the dying out of a fire. Each metaphor proposes a fashion the immature man may see the poet.^[2]

Analysis and synopsis [edit]

Barbara Estermann discusses William Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 in relation to the starting time of the Renaissance. She argues that the speaker of Sonnet 73 is comparing himself to the universe through his transition from "the physical deed of aging to his concluding act of dying, then to his death".^[3] Esterman clarifies that throughout the iii quatrains of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73; the speaker "demonstrates man's relationship to the cosmos and the parallel properties which ultimately reveal his humanity and his link to the universe. Shakespeare thus compares the fading of his youth through the iii elements of the universe: the fading of life, the fading of the light, and the dying of the fire".^[3]

The first quatrain is described by Seymour-Smith: "a highly compressed metaphor in which Shakespeare visualizes the ruined arches of churches, the retention of singing voices still echoing in them, and compares this with the naked boughs of early on winter with which he identifies himself".^[four]

In the second quatrain, Shakespeare focuses on the "twilight of such day" as death approaches throughout the nighttime. Barbara Estermann states that "he is concerned with the change of light, from twilight to dusk to black nighttime, revealing the last hours of life".^[3]

Of the 3rd quatrain, Carl D. Atkins remarks, "Equally the fire goes out when the forest which has been feeding it is consumed, so is life extinguished when the strength of youth is past".^[v] Barbara Estermann says information technology is concerned with "the fading out of life's energy".^[iii]

Structure [edit]

Sonnet 73 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English language sonnet has three quatrains, followed by a final rhyming couplet. Information technology follows the rhyme scheme of the English sonnet grade, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Information technology is composed in iambic pentameter, a poetic metre that has five feet per line, and each foot has 2 syllables absolute weak so strong. Almost all of the lines follow this without variation, including the second line:

          ×   /  ×   /      ×   /    ×   /    ×  /  When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang (73.2)        

/ = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.

Construction and metaphors [edit]

The organization of the verse form serves many roles in the overall effectiveness of the poem. Yet, i of the major roles unsaid by this scheme revolves around ending each quatrain with a complete phrase. Given the rhyme scheme of every other line within the quatrain, equally an audition nosotros are to infer a statement is being made by the cease of every four lines. Further, when shifted toward the adjacent 4 lines, a shift in the overall idea procedure is being made by the author.

If Shakespeare's use of a complete phrase within the rhyme scheme implies a statement then the use of a consistent metaphor at the finish of each quatrain shows both the author'south acknowledgement of his ain mortality and a contemptuous view on crumbling. This view on aging is interconnected with the inverse introduction of each symbol within the verse form. By dropping from a year, to a day, to the brief duration of a fire, Shakespeare is establishing empathy for our speaker through the lapse in time.^[6] Additionally, the three metaphors utilized pointed to the universal natural phenomenon linked with beingness. This phenomenon involved the realization of transience, disuse, and death.^[7]

Overall, the structure and utilise of metaphors are 2 connected entities toward the overall progression within the sonnet. Seen as a harsh critic on historic period, Shakespeare sets up the negative effects of aging in the three quatrains of this verse form. These aspects non only accept on a universal aspect from the symbols, but represent the inevitability of a gradual lapse in the element of fourth dimension in full general from their placement in the verse form. Farther, many of the metaphors utilized in this sonnet were personified and overwhelmed by this connexion betwixt the speaker's youth and death bed.^[8]

Interpretation and criticism [edit]

John Prince says that the speaker is telling his listener most his own life and the certainty of death in his most future. The reader perceives this imminent death and, because he does, he loves the author even more than. However, an alternative understanding of the sonnet presented past Prince asserts that the author does not intend to address death, but rather the passage of youth. With this, the topic of the sonnet moves from the speaker'due south life to the listener's life.^[9]

Regarding the concluding line, "this thou perceivest, which makes thy dearest more strong, to love that well which thousand must leave ere long", Prince asks:

Why, if the speaker is referring to his own life, does he state that the listener must "leave" the speaker's life? If the "that" in the final line does refer to the speaker'southward life, then why doesn't the last line read "To honey that well which thou must lose ere long?" Or why doesn't the action of leaving have every bit its subject the "I", the poet, who in death would leave behind his accountant?^[9]

Bernhard Frank criticizes the metaphors Shakespeare uses to describe the passage of fourth dimension, be information technology the coming of expiry or simply the loss of youth. Though lyrical, they are logically off and quite cliché, existence the overused themes of seasonal alter, sunset, and burn. In fact, the only notably original line is the ane concerning leaves, stating that "when yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang, upon those boughs".^[6] Logic would crave that few should precede none; in fact, if the boughs were blank, no leaves would hang. Frank argues that Shakespeare did this on purpose, evoking sympathy from the reader every bit they "wish to nurse and cherish what little is left", taking him through the logic of pathos – ruefulness, to resignation, to sympathy.^[10] This logic, Frank asserts, dictates the entire sonnet. Instead of moving from hour, to day, to twelvemonth with burn down, then dusk, then seasons, Shakespeare moves backwards. By making time shorter and shorter, the reader'south fleeting mortality comes into focus, while sympathy for the speaker grows. This logic of pathos can be seen in the images in the sonnet'due south three quatrains. Frank explains:

Think now of the sonnet's 3 quatrains as a rectangular grid with i row for each of the governing images, and with iv vertical columns:

spring	summer	fall	wintertime
morning	noon	evening	nighttime
tree	log	ember	ashes

These divisions of the images seem perfectly congruous, but they are not. In the year the common cold of winter takes upwards one quarter of the row; in the day, night takes upwards one half of the row; in the final row, however, death begins the moment the tree is chopped down into logs.^[10]

This is a gradual progression to hopelessness. The sun goes away in the winter, but returns in the spring; it sets in the evening, but will ascension in the morning time; just the tree that has been chopped into logs and burned into ashes volition never grow over again. Frank concludes past arguing that the end couplet, compared to the beautifully crafted logic of pathos created prior, is anticlimactic and redundant. The verse form'due south first 3 quatrains hateful more to the reader than the seemingly important summation of the concluding couplet.^[x]

Though he agrees with Frank in that the poem seems to create 2 themes, ane which argues for devotion from a younger lover to one who will non be around much longer, and another which urges the young lover to enjoy his fleeting youth, James Schiffer asserts that the final couplet, instead of being unneeded and unimportant, brings the two interpretations together. In order to sympathise this, he explains that the reader must await at the preceding sonnets, 71 and 72, and the subsequent sonnet, 74. He explains:

The older poet may desire to "love more stiff" from the younger human being merely feels, as 72 discloses, that he does not deserve it. This psychological conflict explains why the couplet hovers equivocally betwixt the conclusions "to dearest me", which the persona cannot bring himself to ask for outright, and "to love your youth", the impersonal alternative exacted by his cocky-antipathy.^[11]

Past reading the final couplet in this way, the reader will realize that the 2 discordant meanings of the final statement do in fact merge to provide a more complex impression of the author's country of mind. Furthermore, this successfully puts the focus of the reader on the psyche of the "I", which is the subject of the following sonnet 74.

Possible sources for the third quatrain's metaphor [edit]

A few possible sources accept been suggested for both of 2 passages in Shakespeare's works: a scene in the play Pericles, and the third quatrain in Sonnet 73. In the scene in Pericles an emblem or impresa borne on a shield is described as bearing the paradigm of a burning torch held upside downwardly along with the Latin phrase Qui me alit, me extinguit ("what nourishes me, destroys me").^[12] In the quatrain of Sonnet 73 the image is of a burn down being high-strung by ashes, which is a bit different from an upside downwardly torch, however the quatrain contains in English language the aforementioned idea that is expressed in Latin on the impressa in Pericles: "Consum'd with that which it was nourished by." "Consumed" may not be the obvious give-and-take choice for beingness extinguished by ashes, merely information technology allows for the irony of a consuming fire being consumed.^{[13] [fourteen]}

One suggestion that has frequently been made is that Shakespeare'south source may be Geoffrey Whitney's 1586 volume, A Choice of Emblemes, in which there is an impresa or keepsake, on which is the motto Qui me alit me extinguit, along with the paradigm of a downward-turned torch. This is followed by an explanation:

Even every bit the waxe doth feede and quenche the flame,

Then, loue giues life; and love, dispaire doth giue:

The godlie loue, doth louers croune with fame:

The wicked loue, in shame dothe make them liue.

Then leaue to loue, or loue as reason will,

For, louers lewde doe vainlie langishe notwithstanding.^{[15] [16] [17]}

Joseph Kau suggests an alternate possible source – Samuel Daniel. In 1585 Daniel published the outset English treatise and commentary on emblems, The Worthy Tract of Paulus Jovius, ^[eighteen] which was a translation of Paolo Giovio'due south Dialogo Dell' Imprese Militairi et Amorose (Rome 1555). Appended to this work is "A soapbox of Impreses", the starting time English language collection of emblems, in which Daniel describes an impresa that contains the paradigm of a down-turned torch:

"An dotty gentleman of Milan bare in his Standard a Torch figured burning, and turning downeward, whereby the melting wax falling in great aboundance, quencheth the flame. With this Posie thereunto. Quod me alit me extinguit. Alluding to a Lady whose beautie did foster his honey, and whose disdayne did endamage his life."^[xix]

Kau's proffer, nonetheless, has been confuted, because Kau made it crucial to his argument that Shakespeare and Daniel both used the Latin give-and-take quod rather than qui, nonetheless Shakespeare in fact nowhere uses the discussion quod.^[20]

Co-ordinate to Alan R. Young, the likeliest source is Claude Paradin's post 1561 book Devises Heroïques, primarily because of the exactness and the particular with which it supports the scene in Pericles.^[21]

Recordings [edit]

• Paul Kelly, for the 2016 album, Seven Sonnets & a Song
• Vanessa Redgrave for the Roksanda Autumn/Winter 2021 fashion drove video https://roksanda.com/blogs/collections/autumn-winter-2021

References [edit]

1. ^ Shakespeare, William. Duncan-Jones, Katherine. Shakespeare's Sonnets. Bloomsbury Arden 2010. p. 257 ISBN 9781408017975.
2. ^ Hovey 1962.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Estermann 1980.
4. ^ Atkins 2007, p. 197.
5. ^ Atkins 2007, p. 198.
6. ^ ^{a b} Frank 2003, p. 3.
7. ^ Schroeter 1962.
8. ^ Berth 2000, p. 260.
9. ^ ^{a b} Prince 1997, p. 197.
10. ^ ^{a b c} Frank 2003, p. 4.
11. ^ Pequigney 2013, p. 294.
12. ^ Shakespeare, William. Pericles. Act II, scene 2, line 32 - 33.
13. ^ Young, Alan R. "A Notation on the Tournament Impresa in Pericles". Shakespeare Quarterly Vol 36 Number 4(1985) pp. 453-456
14. ^ Berth, Stephen, ed. (2000) [1st ed. 1977]. Shakespeare'southward Sonnets (Rev. ed.). New Haven: Yale Nota Bene. ISBN 0300019599. p. 579
15. ^ Whitney, Geoffrey. Green, Henry, editor. A Choice of Emblemes. Georg Olms Verlag, 1971. Reprinted facsimile edition. ISBN 9783487402116
16. ^ Schaar, Claes. Qui me alit me extinguit. English language Studies., No. 49. Copenhagen (1960)
17. ^ Green, Henry. Shakespeare and the Emblem Writers. London (1870). Forgotten Books (reprinted 2018). pp. 171-74. ISBN 978-0260465986
18. ^ Daniel, Samuel. The Worthy Tract of Paulus Jovius. Publisher: London, Simon Waterson. 1585.
19. ^ Kau 1975.
20. ^ Young, Alan R. "A Note on the Tournament Impresa in Pericles". Shakespeare Quarterly Vol 36 Number 4(1985) pp. 453-456
21. ^ Immature, Alan R. "A Note on the Tournament Impresa in Pericles". Shakespeare Quarterly Vol 36 Number 4(1985). pp. 453-456

Bibliography [edit]

• Atkins, Carl D., ed. (2007). Shakespeare's Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN978-0-8386-4163-7. OCLC 86090499.
• Estermann, Barbara (1980). "Shakespeare's Sonnet 73". The Explicator. Routledge. 38 (iii): 11. doi:x.1080/00144940.1980.11483372. ISSN 0014-4940 – via Taylor & Francis.
• Berth, Stephen, ed. (2000) [first published 1977]. Shakespeare'southward Sonnets: With Analytic Commentary (revised ed.). New Haven: Yale Nota Bene. ISBN9780300085068. OCLC 2968040.
• Frank, Bernhard (2003). "Shakespeare's Sonnet 73". The Explicator. Routledge. 62 (1): three–4. doi:ten.1080/00144940309597834. ISSN 0014-4940. S2CID 162267714 – via Taylor & Francis.
• Hovey, Richard B. (1962). "Sonnet 73". College English. National Council of Teachers of English. 23 (8): 672–673. doi:ten.2307/373787. eISSN 2161-8178. ISSN 0010-0994. JSTOR 373787.
• Kau, Joseph (1975). "Daniel's Influence on an Epitome in Pericles and Sonnet 73: An Impresa of Destruction". Shakespeare Quarterly. Folger Shakespeare Library. 26 (one): 51–53. doi:10.2307/2869269. eISSN 1538-3555. ISSN 0037-3222. JSTOR 2869269.
• Pequigney, Joseph (2013). "Sonnets 71–74: Texts and Contexts". In Schiffer, James (ed.). Shakespeare's Sonnets: Critical Essays. Shakespeare Criticism. Routledge. pp. 285–304. ISBN9781135023256.
• Pooler, C. Knox, ed. (1918). The Works of Shakespeare: Sonnets. The Arden Shakespeare, first series. London: Methuen & Co. hdl:2027/uc1.32106001898029. OCLC 4770201. OL 7214172M.
• Prince, John Due south. (1997). "Shakespeare's Sonnet 73". The Explicator. Routledge. 55 (four): 197–199. doi:x.1080/00144940.1997.11484177. ISSN 0014-4940 – via Taylor & Francis.
• Schroeter, James (1962). "Sonnet 73: Reply". College English. National Quango of Teachers of English. 23 (eight): 673. doi:x.2307/373788. eISSN 2161-8178. ISSN 0010-0994. JSTOR 373788.

Further reading [edit]

Offset edition and facsimile

• Shakespeare, William (1609). Milk shake-speares Sonnets: Never Earlier Imprinted. London: Thomas Thorpe.
• Lee, Sidney, ed. (1905). Shakespeares Sonnets: Beingness a reproduction in facsimile of the first edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 458829162.

Variorum editions

• Alden, Raymond Macdonald, ed. (1916). The Sonnets of Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. OCLC 234756.
• Rollins, Hyder Edward, ed. (1944). A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare: The Sonnets [two Volumes]. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. OCLC 6028485.

Modernistic critical editions

• Atkins, Carl D., ed. (2007). Shakespeare's Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Printing. ISBN978-0-8386-4163-7. OCLC 86090499.
• Booth, Stephen, ed. (2000) [1st ed. 1977]. Shakespeare's Sonnets (Rev. ed.). New Haven: Yale Nota Bene. ISBN0-300-01959-9. OCLC 2968040.
• Couch, Colin, ed. (2002). The Complete Sonnets and Poems. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Printing. ISBN978-0192819338. OCLC 48532938.
• Duncan-Jones, Katherine, ed. (2010) [1st ed. 1997]. Shakespeare'southward Sonnets. The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd Series (Rev. ed.). London: Bloomsbury. ISBN978-1-4080-1797-5. OCLC 755065951.
• Evans, G. Blakemore, ed. (1996). The Sonnets. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge Academy Press. ISBN978-0521294034. OCLC 32272082.
• Kerrigan, John, ed. (1995) [1st ed. 1986]. The Sonnets ; and, A Lover'south Complaint. New Penguin Shakespeare (Rev. ed.). Penguin Books. ISBN0-14-070732-8. OCLC 15018446.
• Mowat, Barbara A.; Werstine, Paul, eds. (2006). Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems. Folger Shakespeare Library. New York: Washington Square Printing. ISBN978-0743273282. OCLC 64594469.
• Orgel, Stephen, ed. (2001). The Sonnets. The Pelican Shakespeare (Rev. ed.). New York: Penguin Books. ISBN978-0140714531. OCLC 46683809.
• Vendler, Helen, ed. (1997). The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard Academy Printing. ISBN0-674-63712-7. OCLC 36806589.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_73

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