Anna Miller
4B Sonnet XIX
The Sonnet XIX, written by William Shakespeare, portrays a tone of defiance and spite and a theme of the immortalization of humans through their writing and love. Shakespeare wrote this sonnet as a willful, almost insolent, diatribe against the personification of time, mourning the aging of his beloved benefactor. Throughout the sonnet, time is personified and cast in a dominant, typically negative representation. The unnamed benefactor, however, is depicted as beautiful and adored by Shakespeare, who is the speaker. Shakespeare addresses “Time” about the state of the age and beauty of the benefactor, commanding “him” not to erode the benefactor’s magnificence. The tone and theme are evident through the use of literary devices, such as personification.
Sonnet XIX expresses the feelings of Shakespeare towards his benefactor and the characterization of time. In first quatrain, Shakespeare speaks to time, “Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws, /And make the earth devour her own sweet brood; /Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws, /And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;”. In this quatrain, Shakespeare establishes the dominance and strength of “Time” through describing the actions Time is capable of towards formidable animals, such as the plucking the teeth of the “fierce tiger”. “Fierce”, the description of the tiger, is defined as “menacingly wild, savage, or hostile”, and the fact that Time is able to pluck its teeth verifies the strength of Time. The second quatrain warns Time to “…do whate’er thou wilt…but I forbid thee one most heinous crime”, which allows Time to continue with its duties, but prohibits it from committing one terrible act. This terrible act consists of aging the patron of Shakespeare, and therefore weakening his loveliness, as spoken in the third quatrain, “…carve not with thy hours my fair loves brow…Him in thy course untainted do allow/For beauty’s pattern succeeding to men”. In the last couplet, Shakespeare ends with a defiant statement, “Yet, do thy worst, old Time; despite thy wrong, /My love shall in my verse ever live young”, declaring that Shakespeare will preserve his patron’s beauty and being in his sonnet.
Through Shakespeare’s verses and his usage of several literary devices, a tone and theme are established. Shakespeare illustrates a tone of defiance and is almost taunting towards Time. This defiant and taunting tone is apparent in the lines, “…And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time, / to the wide world and all her fading sweets; / But I forbid thee one most heinous crime”. In these verses, Shakespeare is giving Time permission to “do whate’er thou wilt”, which is a direct challenge to the power of Time, which was established in the first quatrain by the imagery of the dominant actions of Time. Since Shakespeare is giving Time permission, and then forbidding Time from doing one action, he is placing his own supremacy above that of Time. Defiance, which has a denotation of “a daring or bold resistance to authority”, is evident in this challenge. The theme of the sonnet, which includes the immortalization of Shakespeare’s beloved patron through his writings, appears in the personification of time and the figurative language used in the final couplet. The personification of time, depicted in the first quatrain as a powerful and authoritative being, and the metaphorical overcoming of Time through Shakespeare’s verse is revealed in the last couplet, “Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong, / My love shall in my verse ever live young.” Shakespeare states, through his use of figurative language, metaphor, and the personification of time, that in spite of the supremacy of time, the benefactor would be remembered through his appearance in Shakespeare’s sonnets, thereby “thwarting”, figuratively, Time.
Shakespeare demonstrates a tone of defiance and exemplifies a theme of long-lasting legacy through literature in his sonnets. He employs the service of several literary devices to display the tone and theme, including personification, figurative language, and metaphor. The speaker in the sonnet, Shakespeare, addresses “Time” as a powerful existence, however still considers “Him” to be less powerful than himself. The subject of the sonnet, which is the continued aging of the benefactor, angers the speaker, who blames Time for the gradual destruction of the beauty of the patron. However, Shakespeare also firmly believes that through his compositions, the benefactor’s splendor will be forever immortalized and his legacy intact.
4B
Sonnet XIX
The Sonnet XIX, written by William Shakespeare, portrays a tone of defiance and spite and a theme of the immortalization of humans through their writing and love. Shakespeare wrote this sonnet as a willful, almost insolent, diatribe against the personification of time, mourning the aging of his beloved benefactor. Throughout the sonnet, time is personified and cast in a dominant, typically negative representation. The unnamed benefactor, however, is depicted as beautiful and adored by Shakespeare, who is the speaker. Shakespeare addresses “Time” about the state of the age and beauty of the benefactor, commanding “him” not to erode the benefactor’s magnificence. The tone and theme are evident through the use of literary devices, such as personification.
Sonnet XIX expresses the feelings of Shakespeare towards his benefactor and the characterization of time. In first quatrain, Shakespeare speaks to time, “Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws, /And make the earth devour her own sweet brood; /Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws, /And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;”. In this quatrain, Shakespeare establishes the dominance and strength of “Time” through describing the actions Time is capable of towards formidable animals, such as the plucking the teeth of the “fierce tiger”. “Fierce”, the description of the tiger, is defined as “menacingly wild, savage, or hostile”, and the fact that Time is able to pluck its teeth verifies the strength of Time. The second quatrain warns Time to “…do whate’er thou wilt…but I forbid thee one most heinous crime”, which allows Time to continue with its duties, but prohibits it from committing one terrible act. This terrible act consists of aging the patron of Shakespeare, and therefore weakening his loveliness, as spoken in the third quatrain, “…carve not with thy hours my fair loves brow…Him in thy course untainted do allow/For beauty’s pattern succeeding to men”. In the last couplet, Shakespeare ends with a defiant statement, “Yet, do thy worst, old Time; despite thy wrong, /My love shall in my verse ever live young”, declaring that Shakespeare will preserve his patron’s beauty and being in his sonnet.
Through Shakespeare’s verses and his usage of several literary devices, a tone and theme are established. Shakespeare illustrates a tone of defiance and is almost taunting towards Time. This defiant and taunting tone is apparent in the lines, “…And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time, / to the wide world and all her fading sweets; / But I forbid thee one most heinous crime”. In these verses, Shakespeare is giving Time permission to “do whate’er thou wilt”, which is a direct challenge to the power of Time, which was established in the first quatrain by the imagery of the dominant actions of Time. Since Shakespeare is giving Time permission, and then forbidding Time from doing one action, he is placing his own supremacy above that of Time. Defiance, which has a denotation of “a daring or bold resistance to authority”, is evident in this challenge. The theme of the sonnet, which includes the immortalization of Shakespeare’s beloved patron through his writings, appears in the personification of time and the figurative language used in the final couplet. The personification of time, depicted in the first quatrain as a powerful and authoritative being, and the metaphorical overcoming of Time through Shakespeare’s verse is revealed in the last couplet, “Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong, / My love shall in my verse ever live young.” Shakespeare states, through his use of figurative language, metaphor, and the personification of time, that in spite of the supremacy of time, the benefactor would be remembered through his appearance in Shakespeare’s sonnets, thereby “thwarting”, figuratively, Time.
Shakespeare demonstrates a tone of defiance and exemplifies a theme of long-lasting legacy through literature in his sonnets. He employs the service of several literary devices to display the tone and theme, including personification, figurative language, and metaphor. The speaker in the sonnet, Shakespeare, addresses “Time” as a powerful existence, however still considers “Him” to be less powerful than himself. The subject of the sonnet, which is the continued aging of the benefactor, angers the speaker, who blames Time for the gradual destruction of the beauty of the patron. However, Shakespeare also firmly believes that through his compositions, the benefactor’s splendor will be forever immortalized and his legacy intact.