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Compare William Shakespeare’s Sonnets 12 and 73 Essay

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Compare William Shakespeare’s Sonnets 12 and 73

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote a group of 154 sonnets between
1592 and 1597, which were compiled and published under the title
'Shakespeare's Sonnets' in 1609. The 154 poems are divided into two groups, a larger set, consisting of sonnets 1-126 which are addressed by the poet to a dear young man, the smaller group of sonnets 127-154 address another persona, a 'dark lady'. The larger set of sonnets display a deliberate sequence, a sonnet cycle akin to that used a decade earlier by the English poet Phillip Sidney (1554-1586) in
'Astrophel and Stella'. The themes of love and infidelity are dominant in both sets of poems, in the larger grouping; these themes are
interwoven …show more content…

He accepts this, and sees that his love will last forever even though he may not be there to experience it.

Sonnet 12, unlike sonnet 73, is made up of an octave, for observation, and a sestet, for reflection. The iambic pentameters in this sonnet reflect the ticking of a clock, to display the passage of time. The first line is a very obvious example of the passing of time, 'when I do count the clock that tells the time'. The person is counting the clocks chimes, giving an audible sound to the reader of the clock, which is very important. The second line, 'and see the brave day sunk in hideous night', gives an almost visual suggestion of brightness and gallantry by the word 'brave'; as opposed to the ugliness and darkness of the 'hideous night'. The poet also uses personification to describe the 'brave day', which emphasises his youth and foolhardiness which is taken by the coming night. 'When I behold the violet past prime', the violet is emblematic of the Spring and new life and growth, 'prime' also means the period of perfection, which is considered to be Spring.
The poet has used 'past prime' to convey that once was young and fresh is now fading and dying. Reflecting the ephemeral nature of life, which he is losing and that has nearly totally left him.

The following line describes the 'sable' hair of youth is turned 'all silvered o'er with white', meaning that his black hair when the man

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