Sonnet 73

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Sonnet 73 Text

Sonnet 73 Summary

"Sonnet 73" is broken up into three quatrains, each dominated by its own metaphor, and ending with a heroic couplet. The speaker is addressing "Fair Youth," the unnamed young man that most of Shakespeare's 126 sonnets are addressed to. The speaker is reflecting on his old age and his inevitable death. He first compares himself to a tree in Autumn, with yellow leaves and bare spots clinging to the branches as they're shaken by the cold Fall air. Where birds once sang, the branches are deserted like the ruins where choirs would sing in now-ruined churches. He then compares his age to a sunset fading into the night, where sleep seals up all light. Finally, the metaphor in the last quatrain compares the speaker to a fire burning out. The logs of youth have turned to ash, consumed by the very fire that made it burn so brightly. In the final couplet, the speaker implores the Fair Youth to love him more deeply because he won't be alive for much longer.

The speaker compares the end of his life to a tree with yellow leaves in Autumn to show that time and life are slipping away, pexels

Sonnet 73 Literary Devices

"Sonnet 73" employs metaphor, imagery, symbolism, and apostrophe to present the central themes of time and death. The speaker never directly says his life is ending, but he uses figurative language to make his inevitable demise very apparent.

Metaphor in "Sonnet 73"

There are three core metaphors used in "Sonnet 73," one in each of the quatrains. The metaphors are used to depict the speaker's understanding of death. As the metaphors evolve, so too does the speaker's understanding of the nature of death.

Metaphor in quatrain one

In the first quatrain, metaphor compares the speaker's late stage in life to a tree losing its leaves in the winter:

If Spring is often associated with birth, growth, and vitality, then Autumn is associated with loss of life and decay. The leaves lose all of their green color and fall to the ground, leaving the trees dormant and barren for the winter. Where birds once sang late into the summer nights, now the branches are bare like "ruin'd choirs" (4) in destroyed churches.

The speaker can feel his youthfulness and life ebbing away like the leaves that fall off the tree. Interestingly, leaves come back every single year. And instead of being stunted by the apparent loss in the fall, trees grow taller and healthier each year. Is the speaker saying that death is merely a cycle of regeneration?

Metaphor in quatrain two

In the second quatrain, the metaphor shifts, comparing life and death to the loss of light at dusk:

The light of day is overtaken by darkness as the sun sets. The light is the speaker's life and the darkness is the vast nothingness of death. Again, though, the metaphor of a day is cyclical: every night the sun sets, but every morning it comes back up. Unlike the tree metaphor, days are not physically alive nor are they constantly growing in their dormancy. As the poem progresses, the speaker seems to realize the finality of death. How does the final metaphor evolve?

The speaker compares old age to dusk, as the light of life is replaced with the darkness of death, unsplash

Metaphor in quatrain three

In the third and final quatrain, the central metaphor compares life and death to a fire that is burning out:

The fire is burning to ashes, the ashes acting as a symbol of his past vitality giving way to death. The very life that sustained him has been consumed by his youth and stripped away. This metaphor most importantly breaks the cyclical nature that the speaker had been implying with the both the trees and the dusk. Ashes cannot sustain more fire, they are simply a reminder of what once had been. In this metaphor the speaker finally realizes the finality of death.

Imagery and Symbolism in "Sonnet 73"

"Sonnet 73" relies on visual imagery to depict how the speaker understands death. Visual imagery is appropriate because many of the signs of aging are physical, like wrinkles and sagging skin. The speaker doesn't describe human beings, though, and instead uses imagery to describe the trees, twilight, and fire in the metaphors, which also function as symbols in the poem.

The passage of time symbols

Consider the tree in fall that is defined by its yellow leaves, shaking boughs, and "bare ruin'd choir" (4). The imagery depicts life right on the cusp of death, as things are breaking down and the vibrancy has long since passed. In literature, trees often stand as symbols for life and growth. The physical degradation of the tree as it enters winter reflects the speaker's body degrading as death approaches.

The setting sun is also a symbol for the passage of time. Because humans begin their day at sunrise and end their day at dusk, our very lives are defined by the position of the sun in the sky. The setting sun in the second metaphor is symbolic of the passage of time and nearing the end of human life.

Darkness and loss symbols

The imagery in the second metaphor, with the twilight and the sunset fading into black night, also functions as a symbol for darkness. Light typically functions as a symbol for life and hope, while darkness is a symbol for death and the unknown. If read symbolically, the speaker is referring to death stripping away his life and sealing him into the unknown for all eternity.

Finally, the third quatrain uses imagery to present the fire which is burning itself out. The fire is still glowing, but it is burning on "the ashes of his youth" (10) and it will soon be consumed. Fires are often symbols of eternity and resurrection because they can be kept going forever if given enough material to consume. The speaker's fire, however, has nothing to sustain itself but the ashes of its past. All of its kindling has already been used and it has nothing left to burn, as the speaker's life has nothing left. Like the fire, the speaker's vitality is languishing as it fades away into death.

The speaker compares his life to a fire which has burned down to the ashes, unsplash

Personification and Alliteration in "Sonnet 73"

The speaker uses personification to present night and in extension death as an antagonist, not just something that happens to people but a force which actively works against humanity. He says,

Death is a personified figure which has not just one but two faces. Its second identity, night, physically takes away light, stripping the world of brightness and hope. Then, after the mortal world has lost its sense of light and happiness, death and night seal up all of humanity in an eternal rest, where humans are forever kept in darkness. So death isn't just a passive fact of life as presented in the tree metaphor. Here, it is a vindictive manipulator that steals human happiness.

This passage is also the most prominent example of alliteration in the poem. Consider the repetition of the "B" sound in "by and by black" (7) and the "S" sound in "second self, that seals" (8). Nowhere else in the poem does the speaker personify death as a physical, active rival of humanity. But here, the alliteration and personification work together to show how little control humans have over life when death is all-powerful and merciless.

Sonnet 73 Meaning

Trying to stop time or run from death is impossible. Just like trees must shed their leaves in Autumn in preparation for winter, the day must yield to night, and even the hottest fires eventually burn out when there's nothing left, human lives eventually give way to death.

But just because it happens to everybody doesn't mean the speaker is okay with it. He still views night as a thief which steals light from the day and death as a thief which steals vitality from life. Nonetheless, the speaker realizes he must accept his fate even if he isn't content with it.

The meaning of the poem can be found in the way the last couplet handles the inevitability of death: Because time marches on and death grows inevitably closer, the speaker argues that he and his beloved need to make the most of the time they have left and love strongly.

The speaker understands that the passage of time is unavoidable, and wants to make use of the time he has left, pixabay.

Sonnet 73 Tone

The tone of "Sonnet 73" is pensive, tender, and mournful. The speaker uses gentle nature imagery to contemplate death as a natural process of life. He talks about trees, twilight, and fire, all ambivalent, dynamic reminders of both life and death. Instead of presenting death as a violent force, he compares it to the gentle decay of natural things that give way to something else. That doesn't mean it is without its sorrow. The poem is still distinctly mournful, as the speaker uses desolate imagery like barren trees, ashes, and darkness.

The poem is also pensive because the speaker considers death, not just in regards to how it will effect him, but also in how it will impact his beloved. He knows the effects of his death will be felt by all of those close to him, and that aging is a communal experience. Importantly, the speaker also suggests a way to combat the anxiety and finality of death. If he and his beloved love as strongly as they can now, the time he has left will be even more meaningful and fulfilling.

Sonnet 73 Themes

The major themes in "Sonnet 73" examine the tension between death and love.

The inescapable passage of time and death

Most of the poem is about death and the passage of time. In fact, twelve out of the fourteen lines are dedicated to the speaker coming to terms with his own ultimate demise. He does so by depicting how everything in nature goes through periods of loss and death. Trees, sunlight, and fires all do it. Nothing in nature thrives at full force forever, and everything succumbs to the effects of time. At the end of the poem, the speaker is finally able to accept that his death is a natural part of life. Like everything in nature, he is controlled by time.

The nature of love

One thing time doesn't control, though, is love. The final couplet in the poem is so important because it introduces the speaker's only thread of hope in the face of death: the strength of love. The speaker feels rejuvenated by his beloved's passion. He says,

And if the two love one another more strongly because death is inevitable, then their love becomes that much more meaningful and powerful. Death can take everything away from the speaker, can strip his life away like leaves on an Autumn tree, light from the night sky, and ashes burning down low. But it can't take away the meaning and power of love.