| directory |
| home | contact |
|
|||||||||||||||
| search | |||||||||||||||
SONNET 16But wherefore do not you a mightier wayMake war upon this bloody tyrant, Time? And fortify yourself in your decay With means more blessed than my barren rhyme? Now stand you on the top of happy hours; And many maiden gardens, yet unset With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers, Much liker than your painted counterfeit: So should the lines of life that life repair, Which this (Time's pencil, or my pupil pen), Neither in inward worth nor outward fair, Can make you live yourself in eyes of men. To give away yourself keeps yourself still, And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill. NOTES XVI. But Mr. W. H., in his children, can give a far more perfect record of his excellences than the poet can possibly make in his Sonnets. The living portrayal which may thus be drawn surpasses every written record, and the "counterfeit painted by the hand of the artist." 2. This bloody tyrant, Time. Similarly in V. 3 the Hours are spoken of as "playing the tyrants." 5. On the top of happy hours. In the perfection of joyous youth, which can last but a brief space. 6. Maiden gardens. A slight variation from the agricultural imagery of III. 6. 9. The lines of life, &c. I was inclined to take these words as referring to the wrinkles on the brow of advancing life (cf. XIX. 10), and to suppose the meaning to be, that declining age is compensated for by the growing beauty and maturing perfection of children. But, having regard to the general drift of the Sonnet, to the "painted counterfeit" of line 8, and to the words "You must live, drawn by your own sweet skill" (14), I now assent to the interpretation of the "lines of life" as children in whom Mr. W. H. is supposed to have himself portrayed his mental and bodily excellences. 10. Time's pencil. Dr. Furnivall has suggested that this expression is used generally of such written records of the time as may refer to Mr. W. H. This view seems to me correct; and it is well worthy of note that in the Quarto, which, in this particular, I have followed, the words "Time's pencil or my pupil pen" are bracketed together. The record of "Time's pencil" would thus be of a similar kind to that made by the poet's "pupil pen." A reason may also thus be assigned for the use of the word "pupil" as implying that the record in these Sonnets was subordinate to the general record or chronicle of the period. This, in "this (Time's pencil, or my pupil pen)," may be taken as meaning "any written record of this kind," whether by "Time's pencil," &c. How to cite this article:______ Even More...  Shakespeare in Old English?
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers An Elizabethan Christmas Clothing in Elizabethan England Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron Going to a Play in Elizabethan London Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama Publishing in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's Audience Religion in Shakespeare's England Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day Entertainment in Elizabethan England London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare Hits the Big Time
|
More to Explore
Introduction to
Shakespeare's Sonnets Shakespearean Sonnet
Style How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet The Rules of Shakespearean Sonnets
Shakespeare's Sonnets: Q & A Are Shakespeare's Sonnets Autobiographical? Petrarch's Influence on Shakespeare Themes in Shakespeare's Sonnets Shakespeare's Greatest Love Poem Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton The Order of the Sonnets The Date of the Sonnets Who was Mr. W. H.? Are all the Sonnets addressed to two Persons? Who was The Rival Poet? _____
_____ Shakespeare on Jealousy Shakespeare on Lawyers Shakespeare on Lust Shakespeare on Marriage Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet Shakespeare on the Seasons Shakespeare on Sleep
|
©1999-2021 Shakespeare Online. All Rights Reserved.