SHAKESPEARE, sonnet LXXIII

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 rn'wd 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 deathbed whereon it must expire,

Consumed with that which it was nourished by.

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

Analysis:

Shakespeare’s sonnet are arranged in 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet. In the first quatrain the speaking voice presents his problem through a metaphor. His life is approached with falling leaves and so the with autumn. The intelligent reader understands that the speaking voice is aging. The autumn of life is characterized not only by the precariousness of the leaves, but also by the cold they have to endure hanging from the branches. The hardness of the situation was reflected also by the rhythm that turns out to be redundant. It is as if the speaking voice is looking in the mirror, indeed his words are referred to a 'thou' that coincides with the speaking voice own reflection. In the second quatrain the metaphor continues with agrowingclimax that has its apex in death. Sure enough life is firstly compared to ‘twilight of such day’ then at ‘sunset fadeth’ and finally to the ‘black night’, ‘death’s second self’. Is interesting to note the position at the beginning both ‘In me' at the first line and 'death' in the last line. The strategic position emphasizes what is going to happen to the speaking voice: death. The metaphor ends in the third quatrain that captures the image of the fire that has dried up, but does not burn because now hovers the spirit and breath of the elderly, omen of his extinct on his death bed. Sad and dejected tone find a turning point in the rhyming couplet. the speaking voice is launching a universal message: carpe diem. The message is a message of love. Human beings must love before the end of their time to do it.