That Time of Year by William Shakespeare - Essay Example

Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 tells about the narrator’s age and his ever-growing closeness to death, comparing himself to different times of the seasons and of the day, as well as various other elements, such as a dying fire. The person that the narrator is talking to is clearly his lover, as the narrator makes the promise to that person that they will love the narrator even more as his lover begins to grasp the concept of losing him to death. Despite the subject of the poem, the mood is peaceful and passionate, almost bordering on happy. The narrator does not speak of his age with anger or remorse, nor does he seem upset by his impending death. On the contrary, the narrator seems to find great comfort in the fact that his lover will appreciate him even more now that he has reached the age in which any breath could possibly be his last. The elements that contribute to this mood are symbols of autumn, twilight, and fire, all of which are beautiful, lovely things. The last two lines of the poem help to confirm how the narrator feels in regard to his old age, stating that, “This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.” The narrator’s attitude towards the subject matter is unlike that of most people when it comes to the topics of old age and death, as can be seen from the mood of the poem. Far from mentioning the usual topics surrounding death and old age, such as the horrors that they tend to instill on family members and loved ones, the narrator is firm on his opinion that old age and death should be embraced by everyone, declaring it a beautiful thing, albeit sad. The narrator’s opinion is that people that are old and in the slow process of dying because of their age are only loved more by the people that are close to them. The narrator holds no ill feelings towards being old or towards the concept of dying. The themes of the poem are death, the acceptance of death from both the narrator and his lover, and the beauty of old age. Many people become uncomfortable by the thought or the discussion of death, especially if it involves them or someone close to them that they love, such as a lover. Shakespeare’s sonnet helps to show the less explored aspects of death, such as understanding and embracing the true love that people feel for each other as they realize how close death is. Furthermore, Shakespeare also helps to invoke the appreciation of how beautiful old age really is; instead of viewing it as old and decrepit, he compared it to autumn and twilight, things that most people view as beautiful and serene. The literary devices used to communicate the themes are symbolism and metaphors, allowing autumn, twilight, and a dying fire to represent not only old age and death, but the beauty and wonder behind these difficult subjects. While the setting is not literal, the situation is very much so. The situation in the poem of the narrator becoming old and that much closer to death, explaining to his lover these concepts, is to be taken literally. The narrator is old and is dying, and he wants his lover to know that this stage of life is not something that should be mourned, but embraced and appreciated, for the narrator feels that it is during this time that someone’s love really grows for the person that they are about to lose. The literal situation can be seen from the first line, which reads, “That time of year thou mayst in me behold.” He is asking for his lover to look at him so that they may understand and make connections between what the narrator is saying and his current situation of old age. The setting, however, is not literal but symbolic. Even though there is no definite setting described throughout the poem, the reader can see that the uses of autumn and twilight take the place of setting. The narrator uses these places and times of day to symbolize his stage in life and his closeness with death. The title, “That time of year”, is significant to the poem’s content and meaning because the narrator uses autumn, a season during which plants and trees see their death, to describe his own turn from life. The title seems to foreshadow the rest of the poem; right after the initial title is made known, the narrator goes straight into explaining how the season of autumn is like his slow spiral to death. The title also represents that something within every year, such as a season, is something that is always happening and cannot be avoided, much like someone becoming old and succumbing to death because of their age. The title shows the inevitability of old age and death by showing the inevitability of the changing of seasons. The identity of the poem’s narrator is not very clear, with the poem only giving vague clues as to who the person is. From the poem, it can easily be summed up that the speaker is well along in years, so much in fact that they are quite close to death. The narrator also has a lover, someone who is not so keen at the thought of losing the narrator to old age, despite the inevitability of the situation. It also is not clear as to whether or not the narrator is a male or female, though male seems more likely as the poet is male and many of the symbolic aspects seem masculine in nature, such as the use of fire as a method for explaining his dying. Very little is revealed about the narrator, save for a few details that concern his age and relationship status, though details of this are also vague or entirely unknown. The rhyming scheme is typical of most sonnets, consisting of three quatrains, each with two separate rhyming patterns at their ends. The rhyming helped to support the poem’s overall meaning because it, like the poem’s content, was peaceful and beautiful, helping to provoke a more cheerful view about the concepts of old age and death. Read More