Free Essay: Analysis of Sonnet 12 :: Sonnet essays

Analysis of Sonnet 12   When I do determine the clock that tells the time, And see the brave day sunk in abhorrent night When I behold the violet past prime, And sable curls oer-silverd tout ensemble with white When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, Which erst from warmth did burn downopy the herd, And summers green all girded up in sheaves Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard Then of thy beauty do I headland 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 And nothing gainst Times scythe can make defence save breed to brave him when he takes thee hence.     This is an pleasurable sonnet that uses nature imagery, found extensively in Petrarca, that Shakespeare uses to get his level across. Not much explication is needed, aside the sustained images of nature, to fully understand its intent, scarce I would like to point out a peculiar allusion. When variation line 3, the violet past prime has made me think of genus genus Venus and Adonis. In the end, Adonis melts into the earth and a violet sprouts where his body was, which Venus then places in her heart, signifying the love she has for him. Reading this into the poem makes the few interest lines more significant. Having Adonis portrayed as the handsome young person, Shakespeare is alluding to the death of youth (in general and to the young man) through the sonnet. In the next line, it is not trustworthy if sable is an adjective or a noun and if curls is a noun, referring to hair (which is plausible) or a verb modifying sable. Invoking the allusion to Adonis here, Shakespeare portends that if Adonis did live longer, he too would choose greying hair thus, Shakespeare sees behold an Adonis figure, the young man, past his youth.