William Shakespeare wrote around 154 sonnets, which are poems with 14 lines and usually written about One's love; sonnets are usually part of a series in which there are sequels to previous ones. Within each sonnet, Shakespeare usually alters his viewpoint or his tone because of a realization he has within the sonnet. Shakespeare's sonnets are well known for their tasteful wording and for his refusal for his sonnets to become sappy. In Sonnet V, Shakespeare is describing how time has an effect on his love and his love's appearance. Quatrain One is describing how his love is steadily getting older due to the amount of time passing; Shakespeare is speaking in a very admiring tone by saying that gentle work was done on his love throughout the time that had passed. Quatrain Two compares his love towards the sap stuck inside a frozen tree during the winter using a harsher tone than in the first quatrain. An example of this transition would be when Shakespeare states that "For never-resting time leads summer on to hideous winter", by saying the winter is hideous compared to the summer says that he's frustrated that his love is aging. Winter is also a harsh thing to compare his love to, since winter is symbolizes the negative side of death and aging. Quatrain Three conveys the message that once summer is over, meaning once his love's height of beauty in life has passed, their beauty is frozen in time because just like the sap is a prisoner in the frozen tree, the beauty is stuck like a prisoner in the aging body of his love. The final couplet literally says that flowers wilt and die once the winter comes, but the substance inside them forever remains sweet. This is symbolically stating that beauty is forever, not a temporary thing because just like a flower, it can wilt during the winter, but it never truly dies. Comparing his love to a flower is a way of saying how positively he thinks of his love because when the thought of a flower comes to mind, it's never in a negative light. Flowers symbolize light and sweet things because of their reference to spring, which is a pleasant season compared to the harsh weathers of summer and winter. The tone changes into a more accepting tone, Shakespeare realizes his love with age over time, but he accepts that they will always be beautiful on the inside and their beauty will never fully leave. His change in tone occurred in Quatrain Three when Shakespeare states that the beauty is stuck inside the person like sap is stuck inside a frozen branch, because he's not saying that the beauty is necessarily gone, it's still there underneath. He realizes that his love is still beautiful on the inside no matter what time is doing on the outside. This central idea introduces the theme that beauty is preserved in an aging body, and no matter how old the person gets, they will always have that beauty inside of them.
William Shakespeare wrote around 154 sonnets, which are poems with 14 lines and usually written about One's love; sonnets are usually part of a series in which there are sequels to previous ones. Within each sonnet, Shakespeare usually alters his viewpoint or his tone because of a realization he has within the sonnet. Shakespeare's sonnets are well known for their tasteful wording and for his refusal for his sonnets to become sappy. In Sonnet V, Shakespeare is describing how time has an effect on his love and his love's appearance.
Quatrain One is describing how his love is steadily getting older due to the amount of time passing; Shakespeare is speaking in a very admiring tone by saying that gentle work was done on his love throughout the time that had passed. Quatrain Two compares his love towards the sap stuck inside a frozen tree during the winter using a harsher tone than in the first quatrain. An example of this transition would be when Shakespeare states that "For never-resting time leads summer on to hideous winter", by saying the winter is hideous compared to the summer says that he's frustrated that his love is aging. Winter is also a harsh thing to compare his love to, since winter is symbolizes the negative side of death and aging.
Quatrain Three conveys the message that once summer is over, meaning once his love's height of beauty in life has passed, their beauty is frozen in time because just like the sap is a prisoner in the frozen tree, the beauty is stuck like a prisoner in the aging body of his love. The final couplet literally says that flowers wilt and die once the winter comes, but the substance inside them forever remains sweet. This is symbolically stating that beauty is forever, not a temporary thing because just like a flower, it can wilt during the winter, but it never truly dies. Comparing his love to a flower is a way of saying how positively he thinks of his love because when the thought of a flower comes to mind, it's never in a negative light. Flowers symbolize light and sweet things because of their reference to spring, which is a pleasant season compared to the harsh weathers of summer and winter.
The tone changes into a more accepting tone, Shakespeare realizes his love with age over time, but he accepts that they will always be beautiful on the inside and their beauty will never fully leave. His change in tone occurred in Quatrain Three when Shakespeare states that the beauty is stuck inside the person like sap is stuck inside a frozen branch, because he's not saying that the beauty is necessarily gone, it's still there underneath. He realizes that his love is still beautiful on the inside no matter what time is doing on the outside. This central idea introduces the theme that beauty is preserved in an aging body, and no matter how old the person gets, they will always have that beauty inside of them.