SONNET 73

That time of year thou may'st 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 see'st 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 
Consum'd 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.

Analysis

Just from the title, the reader can discover that the poem belongs to a group of sonnets. Indeed it is one of the 154 sonnets of Shakespeare collection.

Considering the structure of the poem, the reader can notice that it has the typical structure of English sonnet, therefore it is organized in three quatrains and a couplet rhyme.

The sonnet is a traditional poetic form. There are two basic types of sonnet, the English sonnet (also called the Shakespearean sonnet) and the Italian sonnet (also called the Petrarchan sonnet).

Both of these types of sonnet have 14 lines, so what distinguishes them is how the sections are broken up and how the poem rhymes. English sonnets follow the pattern abba cddc effe gg, dividing the poem into three quatrains and a closing couplet.

Considering the first stanza, the poet compares himself to the autumn probably because he considers himself no longer young. The poet connotes “autumn” thanks to the use of typical element of the season as “Yellow leaves” or “shake against the cold”. Indeed another element which reminds to “autumn” is the use of the verb “sang”, indeed the verb refers to an action which the bird did in the past, therefore during the summer and the spring.

The second stanza repeats the problem of aging from the point of view of the transition from youth to old age. The passage from youth to old age and theme of the ageing are connoted with the comparison between the life and the transition from the day to the night. Where the day represents the youth, the twilight represents the aging and the night represents the old age. This transition is connotes as inexorable thanks to the use of the assonance of sound “B” (by and by black) on the third lines of the second quatrain.

The third stanza explain the consequences of the aging resorting to the use of the symbolic element as the fire and the ashes. When the man becomes old, he loses the vivacity of young because of the approach with the death. The “ashes of his youth” connotes the experience and the memories of the poet about his youth, these are the only things which remains of the past. The presence and the proximity to death (death-bed) reinforce the inexorability of the aging.

Considering the final couplet, the intelligent reader can discover that the poet refers to the woman who loves. He communicates to her that the aging is his enemy and he doesn’t have much time now. The absence of time and the inexorable slide of the time makes her love more strong.