Sonnet 73

Sonnet|73
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.
"Text of original 1609 Quarto edition"

That time of yeeare thou maiſt in me behold,
When yellow leaues,or none,or few doe hange
Vpon thoſe boughes which ſhake againſt the could,
Bare rn'wd quiers, where late the ſweet birds ſang.
In me thou ſeeſt the twi-light of ſuch day,
As after Sun-ſet fadeth in the Weſt,
Which by and by blacke night doth take away,
Deaths ſecond ſelfe that ſeals vp all in reſt.
In me thou ſeeſt the glowing of ſuch fire,
That on the aſhes of his youth doth lye,
As the death bed,whereon it muſt expire,
Conſum'd with that which it was nurriſht by.
:This thou perceu'ſt,which makes thy loue more ſtrong,
:To loue that well,which thou muſt leaue ere long.

Sonnet 73, one of Shakespeare's most famous sonnets, focuses upon the theme of old age, with each of the three quatrains encompassing a metaphor. The sonnet is pensive in tone, and although it is written to a young friend (""), it is wholly introspective until the final couplet, which finally turns to the person who is addressed (the "thou" in line one).

It is suggested by Joseph Kau in an article entitled "Daniel's Influence On An Image In Pericles and Sonnet 73:An Impresa of Destruction" that Samuel Daniels had a fair amount of influence on this sonnet. This article also suggests that Shakespeare's immediate source of the impresa, or motto, 'Qua me alit me extinguit' was from Geoffory Whitney's "A Choice of Emblems" (London, 1586) [Kau, Joseph. Daniel's Influence on an Image in Pericles and Sonnet 73: An Impresa of Destruction." Shakespeare Quarterly 26(1975): 51-53.]

Notes

ee also

*Shakespeare's sonnets

External links

* [http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shakesonnets/section5.rhtml Sparknotes reading of sonnet 73]
* [http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/Sonnets/e4r.jpgFacsimile of sonnet 73 in 1609 Quarto]