SONNET 73
PARAPHRASE
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
In me you can see that time of year
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
When a few yellow leaves or none at all hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
On the branches, shaking against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
Bare ruins of church choirs where lately the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
In me you can see only the dim light that remains
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
After the sun sets in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Which is soon extinguished by black night,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
The image of death that envelops all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
I am like a glowing ember
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
Lying on the dying flame of my youth,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
As on the death bed where it must finally expire,
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
Consumed by that which once fed it.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
This you sense, and it makes your love more determined
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Causing you to love that which you must give up before long.
Here we have a speaker who is talking about time. Time is preciousقيم. Time is passing. We can never restore a second. It is a kind of a wheel.
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 ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
It is like a series, a chain, small circles connected together.
First, he talks about the time of year. He is referring to a stage in his life. It is autumn that presents a stage in man's life that is old age= the stage of decayالفساد.
What happens in nature in autumn?
The leaves turn into yellow, then brownish and they fall.
Autumn is a season of decay, a season of old age.
The speaker here is addressing someone saying that he can see in him that time of year. He compares himself to late autumn. Autumn is a season of barenessتجرد= no productivity of nature. He compares himself to the season of autumn which is a season of bareness- no leaves, no fruit.
In autumn, we could see the trees as barren, nicked, very few leaves or merely no leaves, or yellow leaves.
Autumn is a cold season. When cold wind comes, it shakes the trees and all of the boughs of all the leaves.
choirs= group of young children in the church who sing.
Bare ruin'd choirs= destroyed.
He is talking about churches with no singers, churches that are deserted. It is like a ruin= a place that is deserted, destroyed. This is church with no choirs is a barren church. No body comes. No body is singing. The birds here are associated with a choir. A choir in the church is like birds singing.
These are visual images.
The main idea in the first quatrain is that the speaker compares himself to the autumn season; an indication of bareness and decay.
In me thou seest 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.
twilight= a time when the day starts to end and the dark approaches. It is an indication of the death of the day. In him, he can see that time of day. When the sun sets, the lights of the day start to creep and go down. It is conquered by the arrival of the night.
black night= the night is described like a warrior that is taking over, controlling.
Death's second self= it is a metaphor. The night is like death's second self. The night is associated with death. The black night is like death's second self.
The language is metaphorical.
In the first quatrain, he compares himself to the late autumn- a season in nature that represents decay and old age.
In the second quatrain, he moves to the day, how time changes; at the end of the day, the twilight, when the sun sets غروب الشمسand the night takes over. It is the ending of the time. Time is passing; the hours of the day are passing.
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.
We can not start a fire with ashesرماد. Fire can not be reborn out of its ashes. The fire is consumed .when there is no wood, no food, the fire will end. The ashes are like the death bed- the coffin of the fire. The wood that once was the food, it helps the fire to be consumedتستهلك.
The idea in the third quatrain is that the speaker here lost his power, his energy when youth is passed.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
perceive= to have a conception about something
It is love in general. One's love should be stronger. It should go stronger by the passing of time. One should seize the chance to love because time is running. Time is going on. It never stops.
The themes of the whole poem are about the passing of time.
The couplet is addressed to a friend of the poet and to the poet himself. The speaker here is Shakespeare himself- not to lose- not to waste time.
The sonnet focuses on the narrator's anxiety. The speaker is in great anxiety over growing old. Each quatrain compares "the time of year " with various examples of passing time in nature.
The metaphors are shortened in duration from month, hours and to minutes.
The poem is metaphorical, rich of metaphors. There are so many visual images, tactile imagery- that make the poem beautiful.
The language is metaphorical. It is written in iambic pentameter.