Devouring Time and Value of Sonnet Sequence in Shakespeare Verses - Essay Example

? 'Devouring time' and the value of Shakespeare's verses in his sonnet sequence 'Devouring time' and the value of Shakespeare's verses in his sonnet sequence The theme time is a common thread in Elizabethan sonnet cycles. In an examination of William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) sonnets the use of the theme of time can be reviewed for both thematic and functional purposes. Four Shakespearean sonnets will be examined within this essay in order to explore the nature of this theme within his work: Sonnets 1, 12, 17, and 19.i Sonnet 1 creates a picture of the way in which time can be personified for savage behaviour towards nature, where in contrast Sonnet 12 creates animal imagery that is related to the suffering that biological life incurs from the ravages of time. Sonnet 17 reflects the nature of time as it has an effect on society. Sonnet 19 reveals the ravages of time as it strips away youth and it is theorized that this poem might be reflective of the scheming of some men against King Henry, also creating a pun about the ‘whores’ of time.1 The theme of time is a running thread through much of the sonnet form work of William Shakespeare as it represents an important thematic exploration within the Renaissance. David Kaula wrote in an essay on these themes within Shakespeare’s sonnets that the use of these themes had a conventional origination.2 The argument that will be presented in this paper will explore whether or not the themes of war and time were used traditionally or if they were used in a way that was an innovation for both the form and the message of the works. Lever states that Shakespeare was “a literary artist working through the sonnet medium, (as) he selected, adapted, and reshaped experience” and that he did this “as judiciously as did every other great sonnet poet of that era”.3 These two critics of Shakespeare’s work suggest that he was using the trends of his era in order to create his art, rather than innovating within the form and creating something new for the time period. Looking at Edmund Spenser’s (1552-1559) Sonnet 73 titled “Amoretti” provides a look at a sonnet from the approximate time of Shakespeare’s work in order to find an example of time within the sonnet form of the period. One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his pray. "Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay. A mortal thing so to immortalise, For I myself shall like to this decay, and eke my name be wiped out likewise." "Not so," quod I, "let baser things devise, To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew." 4 This sonnet introduces a new theme in the sequences of Spenser’s work. The sonnet explores the transitory nature of life, drawing a picture of him through the idea of writing love letters in the sand for his lover. As he writes, the tide comes in and wipes away the name of his lover, repeating this as a metaphor for the decay of time against the desire to have those things that are important in the moment be immortal. As he explores the way in which nature has devised to wipe clean all that men find important within their time, he decides that writing about his love in verse is the way in which to immortalize the feelings that he believes have value beyond the time he has been given in this life. The same kind of theme can be found in Samuel Daniel’s (1562-1619) Sonnet 31 which he titles Delia. Look, Delia, how w' esteem the half-blown rose, The image of thy blush and summer's honour, Whilst yet her tender bud doth undisclose That full of beauty Time bestows upon her. No sooner spreads her glory in the air But straight her wide-blown pomp comes to decline; She then is scorn'd that late adorn'd the fair; So fade the roses of those cheeks of thine. No April can revive thy wither'd flowers Whose springing grace adorns thy glory now; Swift speedy Time, feather'd with flying hours, Dissolves the beauty of the fairest brow. Then do not thou such treasure waste in vain, But love now, whilst thou mayst be lov'd again.5 Again the ravage of time can be seen as it has a violence attached to it that takes his lover’s beauty just like it ravages the beauty found in all of nature. Where Spenser attempts to immortalize the moment through verse, Daniel recognizes that time and the effects of time through decay will have an effect on his love. Shakespeare uses similar themes in his sonnets as he introduces time as a devastating force, even though through the power of his pen he attempts to find a way to conquer the rages of time. In Sonnet 1, Shakespeare begins to picture the damages that time can do to nature and he relates time through a look at the future as well as the past in order to show a transition from the fresh beauty of his lover to the decay of age. The poet begs his lover to be aware of distraction to act in order to prevent decay from damaging that beauty. He places continuation through procreation as a way in which to preserve the beauty that comes from youth. He writes: From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might never die,(1:2) Through these initial lines, the theme of the procreation sonnets, Shakespeare’s sonnets 1-17, is established. This begins a sequence of poems in which the ravages of time, the beauty of nature and the ideas of aristocracy will begin to develop and grow as each poem progresses the themes unto the next. While it is well understood how the concepts of time and nature are connected, the idea of the aristocracy as a part of the overall themes might not at first seem obvious. Alvin B. Kernan has suggested that the decrease of the number of noble families was a central concern to the nation and that the decrease in the children of these families was a “crisis of the aristocracy” where "exceptionally large numbers on new families were forcing their way to the top, exceptionally large numbers of old families were falling on evil days and sinking into obscurity".6 In light of this knowledge, it is clear that Shakespeare as the narrator of the poem is encouraging the subject to which the poem appears to have been written to have children in order to continue his beauty, which can be interpreted for the beauty of the aristocracy as much as the beauty of an individual. Shakespeare is taking the position of an advising friend, asking the subject of the poem to beget a child in order to continue his name and legacy, as well as to please his family. Robert Crosman suggests that the young friend was “a vain young aristocrat with a beautiful mother and a dead father, whose family was eager to see him marry and beget an heir”. 7 The concept of saving the decaying aristocracy through the expansion of family lines begins the sequence of the procreation sonnets. This fight with time is bound with the ideas of patronage. Shakespeare has set up a scenario in which he is warning his patron that time will ravage his youth and steal from him all that he holds. Through procreation, the decay of time can be renewed.8 A continuation of this theme can be seen in Sonnet 12 as the distraction of time is shown to result in ultimate decay. The poet reveals that once again procreation is the way in which to fight against these ravages of time. He writes:       And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense    Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.(12: 13-14) The idea of breeding to create a defence of against the scythe of time is emphasized to the subject of the narrative. Time will bring an end to everything even the beauty of the subject of the sonnet, thus the poet asks him to become aware of this danger ant to not be a victim of this destruction. The poet writes: 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) The poet is exploring the individual beauty of the subject as it exists for its own sake, but asks the subject to recognize that time will take the sweetness of his youth soon and the only way in which to preserve is to see it continue on in children. The last two lines of the poem appear to be surrender to the ravages of time and the forces that it applies on youth and beauty, suggesting that breeding is the only defense against this end. Sonnet 17 shows a development of the worries that the poet has been experiencing in relationship to time and a lack of progeny. This poem can be read as if the narration is filled with scorn, the narrator applying a form of guilt upon the subject about the lack of children. The poet expresses that the beauty that he perceives in the subject is such that future generations would not believe that it had existed unless there was evidence of it as it would be passed into children. The poet writes: Such heavenly touches ne’er touched earthly faces (17:8) This suggests that the subject of the poem is far more beautiful than is possible on Earth and that the beauty possessed comes from heaven. Shakespeare goes on to write that if children were to be created, the proof would exist and the future would not call him a liar about the beauty of the individual for whom he writes. The theme of the procreation sonnets is clearly defined by the desire to create children in order to continue the attributes of the individual to whom he is speaking. The poems appear to have a direct subject, an individual for whom the message is repeatedly expressed. One could almost sense a mother of the subject in the background encouraging Shakespeare to batter the subject of the sonnets on the topic of having children. This use of the subject of time and its relationship to procreation appears to have some uniqueness for the time period. Where other poets were focussed on beauty as it related to a lover, Shakespeare is using his writing skills and the sonnet form in order to suggest that the defence against time is procreation.9 Through children, the continuation of the individual is created, the attributes of beauty passed from one generation to the next. Sonnet 19 has a different perspective in comparison to the imagery in Sonnet 12. This time the poet challenges ‘time’ and refuses to submit to the damages that time is creating on his lover. Where Sonnet 17 ends the procreation sonnets, it is clear in Sonnet 19 that a new theme is emerging. Sonnet 19 is referred to as “Devouring Time” and reads: 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) The theme begins to explore the power of time and how it can fiercely destroy things that are soft, beautiful and precious, such as his lover. The poet accepts the conventional damages that time can inflict which are familiar to everyone. The animals that Shakespeare uses to evoke powerful, almost mythological imagery are based upon the exotic nature of those animals because of their rarity in Renaissance society. The use of the tiger creates the basis upon which the mythology is built, furthered by the use of a mythological creature to create the almost magical realm in which the sonnet is taking place. That mythology is furthered when the phoenix appears, a true mythological animal, which is described as a bird is consumed in fire, only to renew its life as it emerges from the ashes. Shakespeare uses these exotic references to show that even they are not immune to time.ii Time begins to steal the beauty of the poet’s subject and he laments this fact when he writes the following lines: O carve not with thy hours my loves faire brow Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen (19:9-10). The poet’s message is that he does not care about such damage as time will never steal his lover’s spiritual beauty and will forever live young. He writes: Yet do thy worst, old Time, despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young. (19:13-14) As the theme has transitioned in the sequences of the sonnets, Shakespeare has moved from the need to preserve beauty through progeny, to the idea that beauty is about the spirit, despite the power of time to ravage and create decay. In comparing the work of Shakespeare to that of his contemporaries, the use of time has some traditional referencing for its ability to decay and to ravage the beauty of the subjects of the poems. Shakespeare diverges in his use of the theme in the procreation sonnets as he uses the idea of children as a way in which to defend against the power of time to steal beauty. He seems to suggest that in children is a renewal of beauty that can achieve a sense of immortality. This might also be an example of how the power of patronage can influence work as it is possible he is responding to the needs of a patron in conveying a message to a specific subject. The irony of the immortality that might have been gained through the sonnets is that while Shakespeare has become immortal through the work, the patron who possibly commissioned the work is unknown. Notes Read More