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  • Essay / The role of time in Shakespearean sonnets

    The only word that is repeated in Shakespearean sonnets is the word “time”. Throughout his works, and particularly early on, Shakespeare attempts to portray the glorified excellence of the male object of the sonnets, continually alluding, however, to the way in which such magnificence shrivels and fades with time. Time is such a central subject in most of his works that he either attempts to deify in his verses the magnificence of his worshipper. He compares time to a provider and taker of youth and resists its inevitable appropriation by retaining its consideration by adapting immaculate verses that cry out and imitate the excellence of his love and give it a habitation within the confines of his words. For Shakespeare, time is an authority, a divinity, a part of life that cannot be changed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In many of the Sonnets, Shakespeare describes time as an authority. In Sonnet 126 he shows us how time fights with nature, a good example is said to be the lover. “If Nature, sovereign mistress of wrecks, / As you advance, will pick you up again” (5-6). He states that although nature must follow his lover's youth, time is his due and nature must eventually "give you back." It gives time human attributes which then make it easier to understand why beauty must fade and eventually disappear. In Sonnet 15, Shakespeare shows time as the enemy of beauty: "Where useless time contends with decadence/to turn the day of your youth into defiled night,/and all are at war with time for love of you” (11-12). Shakespeare states that time and decadence are debating how they can corrupt his lover's youth, and that he is essentially trying to tell his lover that he will protect his lover from the wrath of time. Time is seen as an authority, but now Shakespeare perceives Time as a deity, with the ability to give and take life. In Sonnet 126, Shakespeare clearly states: “And time that gave now confounds its gift” (8). Time is the cultivator and reaper of beauty and youth, “and nothing is better than its scythe” (12). As you can see, Time is mentioned twice, Shakespeare realizes that Time is much like a god, stating that he is the creator and destroyer of beauty and youth. Also in Sonnet 126, personified time uses a sickle to procure its harvest. This metaphor for time is greedy, hasty and dispassionate. He recovers creation after its peak and delivers it again. Shakespeare is implicated in this devastation of beauty and youth and wishes to intercede to capture the essence of his characters before they are lost to time. Since then, his Sonnets have proven themselves able to stand the test of time. He managed to protect this beauty in its purest possible form through poetry. Finally, in many of Shakespeare's sonnets he uses time to show how much of life he cannot do. In sonnet 18, Shakespeare states “and the summer lease is of far too short a date” (4). Through this quote we can begin to understand what Shakespeare is trying to describe, that life is too short and there is not enough time to do everything we love. This quote not only states that there is not enough time, but it is another way Shakespeare emphasizes his undying love. Also in sonnet 18, Shakespeare quotes "the violent winds shake the buds.