Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
Cold Read
Before I consider another's criticism, I just wanted to make a few points. There are many violent words used, including "contend" in line 4, "fight" in line 8, "confound" in line 9, and the phrase "his scythe to mow" in line 12. This suggests that mankind is fighting a losing battle with time, with time placed in a far superior realm. By using the metaphor that depicts time as a farmer mowing his harvest, Shakespeare compares man to static crop that will be eaten by time. This shows that time might be a beast sustained by the birth, growth, and death of man. Time is therefore not a part of nature in the narrator's eyes, but a separate entity that mercilessly attacks it. This division allows Shakespeare to praise the nature that created the beauty he praises and attack the time that swallows it whole without contradicting himself. Time therefore can be denied by using one of nature's finest creations: the human mind. Shakespeare uses his mind to create a beautiful ode that will amaze the minds of others, forcing them to carry the spirit of his muse (yes, the young pretty boy he may or may not have had platonic feelings for) within their mind. Nature therefore finds a way to overcome time. Verse allows the universe's laws to be suspended. The good news: Shakespeare just made a young boy immortal with my mind's help. The bad news: Shakespeare just made a young boy immortal with MY MIND'S HELP! Perhaps I am too homophobic and paranoid.
A Brief Explanation
While I was browsing for an article of criticism that interested me, I found one that meticulously examined the trochees and the words emphasized by the iambic pentameter in order to prove a point of meaning the author believed Shakespeare wanted to make. I might try to make this the standard theme of my research from now on because I have a hard time putting meaning to rhythm.
Robert Arbour's Position
Arbour found key signatures of a battle in the sonnet as well, he just did it much better than I did:
Although Helen Vendler remarks that the trochaic feet at the beginnings of
some lines of the sonnet “draw attention to the hastening of the waves, the
attacks by eclipses and by Time, and the countervailing praising by verse”
(286), the meter accomplishes still more than this. The sonnet’s first two lines
begin with the trochees “Like as” (line 1) and “So do” (2), and the metrical
similarity of the lines connects them, enhancing the comparison of minutes
and waves. While the trochees do convey the haste that Vendler observes, they
also connote the crashing of waves against the shore (1). Shakespeare follows
the initial trochee of line 1 with a calm, iambic meter, then starts line 2 with
another trochee, suggesting the forceful impact of the waves. The second line
then returns to iambic meter, and the spondee in “Each changing” that starts
line 3 represents the climax of the strength of the waves.
I had no idea a spondee and a few trochee could convey that much meaning! It is no longer just the context of the poem that expresses the battle with mortality, but the rhythm and acoustics as well.
Conclusions
1. I need to be more aware of how acoustics come into play with future poems I dissect. I never would have pictured a wave crashing onto the shore without Arbour's help.
2. I need to be less homophobic.
3. It is VERY late.
Bibliography
The Explicator [0014-4940] Arbour yr:2009 vol:67 iss:3 pg:157 -160.
Bibliography
The Explicator [0014-4940] Arbour yr:2009 vol:67 iss:3 pg:157 -160.
