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Shakespeare’s Sonnets with a Focus on Sonnet 15

Shakespeare’s Sonnets
with a Focus on Sonnet 15

Takuo Yoneda

Introduction

　　　　 Shakespeare’s Sonnets consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to a young man who seems to be a lover of the poet (sonnet 1-126). The second part is dedicated to a woman known as Dark Lady. I want to deal with the first part in this paper. At first, I want to see descriptions about ‘time’ in those sonnets. Then I want to discuss Shakespeare’s attitude toward ‘time,’ focusing on sonnet 15.

Chapter 1.　 Descriptions of ‘time’ in The Sonnets

　　　　 Shakespeare treated ‘time’ as a bad thing in The Sonnets. He describes ‘time’ as a destroyer of beauty as follows.

Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
(19.1-4)

In this sonnet Shakespeare calls ‘time’ ‘Devouring Time’ and emphasizes its cruelty. Shakespeare always juxtaposes beauty of the young man and the brutality of ‘time’ that deprives beauty of him. He expresses his idea that beauty will be lost over and over again. Shakespeare recognizes all beautiful things will be destroyed by ‘time’ as follows:

Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;　　　　　　　　　　
(12.9-12)

　　　　 On the contrary, Edmund Waller (1606-87) describes ‘time’ as positive thing in his “Old Age.”

The soul’s dark cottage, battered and decayed,
Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made:
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become
As they draw near to their eternal home.
(7-10)

Waller observes that the older people grow, the wiser they become. Contrary to Waller, Shakespeare never mentions positive side of ‘time’ in The Sonnets. Though actually Shakespeare refers growth of human beings in his sonnets, it is always a counterpart of old age. Shakespeare taunts the ferocity of ‘time’ in the next sonnet.

Those hours, that with gentle work did frame
The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell,
Will play the tyrants to the very same
And that unfair which fairly doth excel:　　　　　　　
(5.1-4)

Shakespeare says ‘time’ will destroy the beauty by the same hands created it. It’s a peculiarity of description of ‘time’ in his sonnets that Shakespeare always treats ‘time’ as thoroughly negative thing.

Chapter 2.　 Shakespeare’s attitude toward ‘time’ and sonnet 15

　　　　 Shakespeare describes ‘time’ as absolute evil thing. He consistently stands against ‘time.’ To counter with ‘time’ means, for Shakespeare, to preserve beauty of beautiful things. The first means against ‘time’ is to leave offspring of the beauty. The second means is to leave his beauty in poetry.

　　　　 Shakespeare’s The Sonnets begins with the following lines.

From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:　　　　
(1.1-4)

In these lines the poet recommends a young man to try to marry someone and have a child. From sonnet 1 to 17 the poet consistently praises his beauty and, at the same time, proposes him to get married. In sonnet 12 he shows his feelings of competition toward ‘time.’ And he persuades the young man that procreation is the only countermine.

And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.　　　　
(12.13-14)

Similarly, he says procreation is more effective than writing poetry to fight against ‘time’ in sonnet 14, 16 and 17.

　　　　 Shakespeare firstly offers poetry as a countermine against ‘time’ in sonnet 15.

And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.　　　　　
(15.13-14)

The last phrase ‘I engraft you new’ (l.14) means ‘I plant you anew,’ that is to say ‘I renew your life.’ The primary image is built on by ‘men as plants’ (l.5). These lines imply that the poet makes the youth live afresh in his sonnets. In this couplet Shakespeare proposed firstly another strategy to fight against time instead of procreation. That is verbal wit, the power of art. Actually, there is an ingenious pun in this sonnet. The poet repeated the sound ‘you’ in 10 to14 (you…youth…youth…you…you…you). At last, ‘you’ are converted, by the additional ‘n’, into the sound ‘new’.

Sets you, most rich in youth, before my sight,
Where wasteful time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night:
　 And all in war with time for love of you
　 As he takes from you, I engraft you new.　　
(10-14) (Emphasis added.)

He tries to renew his love’s beauty by means of verbal wit. This pun is a proper example of the verbal wit.

Chapter 3.　 After sonnet 15

　　　　 The poet gains further confidence in his art after sonnet 15.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.　　　
(18.13-14)

Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.　　　　
(19.13-14)

Sonnet 55 is a kind of proclamation of victory of poetry over ‘time.’

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;　　　
(55.1-2)

In sonnet 100 and 101 the poet calls out to Muse, the Goddess of poetry, as well as Time, the God of time.

Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how
To make him seem long hence as he shows now.　　　
(101.13-14)

After sonnet 18 he never proposes the young man procreation but devotedly praises his beauty like a servant of the beauty.

And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.　　　　　
(60.13-14)

His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
And they shall live, and he in them still green.　　　　
(63.13-14)

You still shall live–such virtue hath my pen–
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.
(81.13-14)

　　　　 The poet attempts to preserve the young man’s beauty in his art. Nevertheless, these sonnets don’t tell us anything about the young man. The poet never describes his concrete profile. Through these sonnets I can see the poet himself facing with the youth rather than his love. He seems to try to compensate difference in age with devotion to art.

Conclusion

　　　　 Shakespeare regards ‘time’ as an enemy. He insists that ‘time’ will destroy beauty in his sonnets over and over again. And he proposes two strategies to fight against time. The one is procreation, and another is to preserve beauty in his art. I think sonnet 15 is the first turning point in the whole of sonnets because in the sonnet Shakespeare firstly proposes new strategy to fight against time. That was verbal wit, the power of art. You can take the sonnet as a kind of the declaration of war against time.

Bibliography

Hirai, Masao, ed. Igirisu-meisisen. Tokyo: Iwanamishoten,
　　　　 1990.
Shakespeare, William. The Arden Shakespeare:
　　　　 Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones.
　　　　 London: Thomson Learning, 1997.
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Ed. Stephen
　　　　 Booth. London: Yale University Press, 1977.
Shakespeare, William. The Sonnets. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans.
　　　　 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Ed. W. G.
　　　　 Ingram. London: University of London Press, 1964.
Shakespeare, William. Sonetto-shuu. Trans. Yuuichi
　　　　 Takamatsu. Tokyo: Iwanamishoten, 1986.

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