Critical Appreciation of Sonnet 73

 Critical Appreciation of Sonnet 73 

Sonnet 73 is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous poems. It is a beautiful poem about getting old, dying, and the power of love. The speaker in the poem talks to a young friend (the beloved). He explains that he is near the end of his life, but this should make their love even stronger.

The Three Main Comparisons (Metaphors) The poet uses three clear pictures (metaphors) to describe his old age. He moves from a large yearly cycle to a smaller daily cycle, and finally to a very short cycle of a fire.

1. Autumn (The Year): First, the speaker compares his age to late autumn. He is like a tree with yellow leaves shaking in the cold wind. The branches are bare and empty. This shows that his "summer" (youth) is gone, and "winter" (death) is coming.

2. Twilight (The Day): Next, the speaker compares his life to the twilight of a day. The sun has set, and darkness is slowly taking over. He calls night "Death’s second self." This means that just as sleep closes our eyes at night, death will soon close his life.

3. A Dying Fire (The Moment): Finally, the speaker compares himself to a dying fire. The fire is glowing weakly on a bed of ashes. These ashes are the remains of the wood that once fed the fire. This shows that the speaker’s life is burning out, and he will soon turn to ash/dust.

The Difference Between Nature and Humans The poem makes an important point. Seasons return every year, and the sun rises every morning. However, human life is not a cycle. Once a person dies, they do not come back. The speaker knows his death is final. He does not talk about heaven or an afterlife; he only focuses on the reality of dying.

Conclusion: The Power of Love The last two lines (the couplet) give the main message. The speaker tells his friend: "You see that I am dying, and this makes your love stronger."

The poem ends on a positive note. It teaches us that because life is short, we should love our dear ones more intensely. Knowing that we will lose someone makes us value them more while they are still here.

Critical Appreciation of Sonnet 73

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 is a beautiful and touching poem about getting older and the importance of love. In this poem, an older speaker is talking to a young friend. The main idea is that life is short, and because time passes quickly, we should love our dear ones even more while they are still with us. The poet uses three clear pictures from nature to describe how he feels about aging.

In the first part, the speaker compares his age to late autumn. He describes himself as a tree with yellow leaves that are shaking in the cold wind. The branches are bare and empty because the birds that used to sing there have flown away. This shows that his youth and energy are gone. Next, he compares his life to twilight, the time of day after the sun has set. As the light fades into the dark night, he feels that "Death's second self" (sleep) is coming closer. Finally, he compares himself to a dying fire. The fire is glowing weakly on a bed of ashes, showing that his life force is burning out.

However, the poem does not end sadly. The last two lines give a very powerful message. The speaker tells his friend that seeing him get old makes the friend's love even stronger. The poem teaches us that we must cherish the people we love because we cannot be with them forever. Knowing that time is running out makes true love more intense and meaningful.

Critical Appreciation of Sonnet No. 73

Shakespeare's sonnets range over many topics, including the beauty of a young man, the desirability of his marriage, a love triangle, a dark lady, and several philosophical and moral concerns. In addition to their poetic power, they remain a unique source of biographical speculation. Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou Mayest in Me Behold" belongs to the group of sonnets in which the poet gives out much of his personal mood of depression and melancholy caused by various factors. Sonnet 73 which falls into the first group of Shakespeare's sonnets contains three distinct metaphors for the poet's progressive aging. The metaphors shorten in duration from months to hours to what may be minutes, the acceleration itself a metaphor for the increasingly rapid rate at which old age begins to take its toll on the human body. In the first quatrain, there is the final season of a year; then, in the second quatrain, only the final hours of a day; and then, in the third quatrain, the final minutes of a fire, before the couplet resolves the argument.

In the first quatrain, the speaker tells his beloved that his age is like a " time of year," by employing the metaphor of late autumn, which emphasizes the harshness and emptiness of old age. The speaker continues this feeling of old age with the metaphors," when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang upon the boughs which shake against the cold" The speaker also uses a metaphor in autumn's "bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" to convey a feeling of old age.

In the second quatrain, the metaphor shifts, when the speaker says that his age is like late twilight, "as after sunset fadeth in the west". This idea of the death of day is reinforced as the speaker further describes twilight, "which by and by black night doth take away". Night will come, only to be followed by sleep, or "Death's second self."

However, both the metaphor of autumn and the metaphor of twilight imply cycles, winter follows autumn, but spring will follow winter, and after the twilight fades, dawn will also come again. The human life, in contrary, is not a cycle; birth will not follow death as the metaphors in the first two quatrains imply.

So, the speaker, in the third quatrain, resigns himself to his fate where hardly any hope is left alive. The speaker compares himself to the glowing remnants of a fire, which lies on the ashes of the logs that once enabled it to burn. Now, the speaker compares the bed of ashes to his own deathbed. "As the deathbed whereon it must expire", no longer can the flame dance and play. instead it must lie still and die as if it were on its deathbed. The ashes will eventually snuff out the fire, "consumed with that which it was nourished by." Once the fire is extinguished, it can never be lit again, like the death that the speaker has come to realize is not like a renewing cycle, but instead a final state.

The couplet of this sonnet renews the speaker's plea for his beloved's love, urging one" to love that well which thou must leave ere long". In contrast to his life, the love between the speaker

must be strengthened by the knowledge that they will soon be parted from one another by death. The rhyme couplet suggests the love between the speaker and his lover will defeat death by living forever.

Thus, Sonnet 73 is a perfect example of Shakespearean form. Three quatrains, each with its own governing figure of decline, serve as incremental parts of a discourse. Each one reinforces the inexorable truth of the natural world's mutability. The couplet clearly suggests the poet's consolation that his beloved or his friend will love him more when he feels that he is destined to lose him soon and thus suggests the continuation and the enhancement of his love in the face of a ravaged lover, like many of his sonnets in the first group where he has tried to eternalize love in a world of transience.

Critical Appreciation of Sonnet 73

Introduction

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 is one of his most celebrated and profound poems. It belongs to the group of sonnets addressed to a young man (often called the Fair Youth). The poem deals with universal themes of aging, mortality, and the power of love. The speaker reflects on his own inevitable decline, using three powerful metaphors from nature to describe the process of getting older. The sonnet is structured to show time moving faster and faster—from a year, to a day, and finally to a few moments—emphasizing how quickly life passes.

The First Quatrain: The fading of the Year (Autumn)

In the first stanza, the speaker compares his stage of life to late autumn. He describes himself as a tree with yellow leaves shaking in the cold wind, or no leaves at all. He uses the beautiful image of "bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" to describe his empty branches. Just as autumn is the time before winter, the speaker’s youth is gone, and he is entering the cold, harsh winter of old age. This metaphor emphasizes the loss of vitality and physical beauty.

The Second Quatrain: The fading of the Day (Twilight)

In the second stanza, the metaphor shifts from the cycle of a year to the cycle of a day. The speaker compares his life to twilight, the time after the sun has set in the west. As the light fades into "black night," he introduces the idea of sleep as "Death's second self." This imagery suggests that just as night closes the eyes in sleep, death will soon close the speaker's life. While the first stanza focused on the coldness of age, this stanza focuses on the growing darkness and the gradual loss of consciousness.

The Third Quatrain: The fading of the Fire (Ash)

In the third stanza, the time frame shortens even further, from hours to mere minutes. The speaker compares himself to the glowing remnants of a dying fire. The fire lies on a bed of ashes, which are described as the "deathbed whereon it must expire." There is a tragic realization here: nature is cyclical (spring follows winter, dawn follows night), but human life is not. Once the fire burns out and turns to ash, it cannot be lit again. This metaphor represents the finality of death, where the fuel of life (youth) has been consumed.

The Couplet: The Strength of Love

The poem does not end in despair. In the final rhyming couplet, the speaker turns to his beloved young friend with a powerful message. He says, "This thou perceive, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well which thou must leave ere long." The speaker realizes that seeing him age does not make the young man love him less; instead, it makes his love stronger.

Conclusion

Sonnet 73 is a masterpiece that refuses traditional consolations like an afterlife. Instead, it focuses on the reality that all life must end. However, Shakespeare transforms this negative reality into a positive realization. The poem teaches us that the fleeting nature of life is exactly what gives love its value. Knowing that we must eventually part from our loved ones makes us cherish them more intensely while they are still here. Thus, love triumphs over the passage of time.

Critical Appreciation of Sonnet 73

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 is one of his most celebrated and profound poems. It belongs to the group of sonnets addressed to a young man (often called the Fair Youth). The poem deals with universal themes of aging, mortality, and the power of love. In the first stanza, the speaker compares his stage of life to late autumn. He describes himself as a tree with yellow leaves shaking in the cold wind, or no leaves at all. He uses the beautiful image of "bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang" to describe his empty branches. Just as autumn is the time before winter, the speaker’s youth is gone, and he is entering the cold, harsh winter of old age. This metaphor emphasizes the loss of vitality and physical beauty. In the second stanza, the metaphor shifts from the cycle of a year to the cycle of a day. The speaker compares his life to twilight, the time after the sun has set in the west. As the light fades into "black night," he introduces the idea of sleep as "Death's second self." This imagery suggests that just as night closes the eyes in sleep, death will soon close the speaker's life. In the third stanza, the time frame shortens even further, from hours to mere minutes. The speaker compares himself to the glowing remnants of a dying fire. The fire lies on a bed of ashes, which are described as the "deathbed whereon it must expire." There is a tragic realization here: nature is cyclical (spring follows winter, dawn follows night), but human life is not. Once the fire burns out and turns to ash, it cannot be lit again. This metaphor represents the finality of death, where the fuel of life (youth) has been consumed. The poem does not end in despair. In the final rhyming couplet, the speaker turns to his beloved young friend with a powerful message. He says, "This thou perceive, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well which thou must leave ere long." The speaker realizes that seeing him age does not make the young man love him less; instead, it makes his love stronger. Sonnet 73 is a masterpiece that refuses traditional consolations like an afterlife. Shakespeare transforms this negative reality into a positive realization. The poem teaches us that the fleeting nature of life is exactly what gives love its value. Thus, love triumphs over the passage of time.