Age and Youth by William Shakespeare
The poem "age and youth", by William Shakespeare (born April 26th 1564 died April 23rd 1616) is one of his profound poems which was published in 1588. It is apart of a collection of numerous poems in "The Passionate Pilgrim", Age and Youth being numeral XII. These various poems centre on the ideas of the early and late stages in life. More notably however his one sided perception on the two topics. "Youth" is cast as being the more favourable and several lines throughout the poem display this bias. "Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold". "Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare" In fact the whole poem centers around the aforementioned topic (youth) being the more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing than barren and cold "old age".
Shakespeare's themes in this particular poem are not unlike many of the others in "The passionate pilgrim", the set of poems from which "age and youth" originates, with conventional themes such as love and beauty and the related motifs of time and mutability. Being a "continuation" of the previous poems in "The Passionate Pilgrim" it connects with his theme of addressing love and praise not to a woman but instead to a young man full of youth and vitality.
"Venus, with young Adonis sitting by her
Under a myrtle shade, began to woo him"
The passionate pilgrim XI
"My better angel is a man right fair"
The passionate pilgrim II
However "youth and age" is focused primarily on the topics previously stated (youth and age) but with respect to the young man in the previous poems of "The Passionate Pilgrim". In effect the young man is immortalised by the poem thereby defying the destructiveness of time. This is one of the reasons behind this ...
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.... "Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I do adore thee". It is uplifting and gives the mood a somewhat flavour due to the alliteration being used.
In brief the most focal and constant theme in the poem is the unwillingness to become old and the negative aspects of old age. "Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I do adore thee". Youth is so vibrant and lively, a stark comparison to old age, an idea which Shakespeare stubbornly holds on to. "Age, I do defy thee: O, sweet shepherd, hie thee". The melancholic mood of the poem expresses Shakespeare's thoughtful sadness on growing old and the inevitability life and death. The poetic techniques effectively contrast how wonderful youth is and how lackluster and bleak we become as we get older. "Youth" is consistently depicted as being that of a young person with "age" being that of an old "lame" nearly dying man," ages breath is short".
The Elizabeithan era was much diffrent from the 21st centery. Some of the differences are: they didn't have fancy lights or sound producers, that people were a lot more open minded about having new words used, , .
Both poems, “To Sir John Lade, on His Coming of Age,” and “When I Was One and Twenty”, speak about two men coming of age. The age of twenty-one is a coveted age in which may changes in life and setting occur. Both poems give a different insight to what that coming of age will mean for a young boy and what happens when they to and do not take those opportunities. Each poem brings different tone, structure, and diction to convey the same message to these boys. That coming of age brings new responsibilities, warnings, and joy that should be relished and taken in.
The legend of the Fountain of Youth says that anyone who should drink from or bathe in the waters of the fountain will have their youth restored. The legend has endured for thousands of years; one of the first accounts of its existence is in the writings of a Greek historian named Herodotus from 5 BCE. People have always lusted after youth and innocence, and often they lust in vain. In contrast, author Joe Hill claimed in one of his novels, “Innocence ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know. Innocent little kids rip the wings off flies, because they don’t know any better. That’s innocence.” In the case of Phineas, one of the main characters in John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Hill is correct. The innocence and youthfulness which Phineas
"Literary Analysis of The Age of Innocence." Literary Analysis of The Age of Innocence. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .
Fate or choice? Choice or fate? How does one separate these ideals? Can one? Shakespeare could not. Nor can we. Fate and choice are so intertwined that our choices determine our fate, and our fate determines our choices. William Shakespeare trusts the audience to scrutinize whether it is fate or choice that rules our human life. Shakespeare aptly conveys this oxymoron (with which people have been dealing for ages) through the evidence and structure of his play, Romeo and Juliet.
Frost's poem addresses the tragic transitory nature of living things; from the moment of conception, we are ever-striding towards death. Frost offers no remedy for the universal illness of aging; no solution to the fact that the glory of youth lasts only a moment. He merely commits to writing a deliberation of what he understands to be a reality, however tragic. The affliction of dissatisfaction that Frost suffers from cannot be treated in any tangible way. Frost's response is to refuse to silently buckle to the seemingly sadistic ways of the world. He attacks the culprit of aging the only way one can attack the enigmatic forces of the universe, by naming it as the tragedy that it is.
This is an enjoyable sonnet that uses nature imagery, found extensively in Petrarca, that Shakespeare uses to get his point across. Not much explication is needed, aside the sustained images of nature, to fully understand its intent, but I would like to point out a peculiar allusion. When reading line 3, "the violet past prime" has made me think of 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 following lines more significant. Having Adonis portrayed as the handsome youth, 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 certain 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 have greying hair; thus, Shakespeare sees ["behold"] an Adonis figure, the young man, past his youth.
Shakespeare uses seasonal imagery in the first quatrain of the poem to show the comparison of aging to the time of season in the year. The narrator does this by using smaller images to create the larger main image of Autumn in the poem, which is his reflection on approaching old age. “That time of year thou mayest in me behold” (1). This is set in Autumn, the time between fall and winter. Fall is a representation of middle age and winter represents old
One of the poems that William Shakespeare wrote is called “That time of year thou mayst in me behold.” It is also known as William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73. This Sonnet is viewed as being comprised of metaphors, which capture the struggle of life. Life in which there is an end to everything but beauty within it. The speaker within this poem is one that reflects on his life and how nature is closely connected with his journey. In order to understand the theme of the poem, the reader must first recognize and understand the three major metaphors within the poem.
Shakespeare’s themes are mostly conventional topics, such as love and beauty. Nevertheless, Shakespeare presents these themes in his own unique fashion, most notably by addressing the poems of beauty not to a fair maiden, but instead to a young man: ‘‘shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate” (book). Shakespeare points out that the youth’s beauty is more perfect then the beauty of a summer day. It is also “more temperate”, in other words more gentle, more restrained whereas the summer’s day might have violent excesses in store. At first glance of sonnet 18, it’s pretty much certain that one would think Shakespeare is referring to a woman, not a man. The idea of a man describing another man with such choice of words is always seen with a different eye. Several even stated that Shakespeare is homosexual. Whichever the case may be, Shakespeare painted beauty in the most original matter. He dared to do what everybody else didn’t, or maybe feared to, and accomplished his goal with flying colors. Besides, in his sonnets, Shakespeare states that the young man was made for a woman and urges the man to marry so he can pass on h...
...the fleeting innate qualities of human beings and their world that they have constructed, giving way to the idea that mortals should live their lives as honorably as possible, so that they will be remembered by their future generations. The impermanence of the human form and its creations is heavily referred to as neither can survive throughout time, however, their words and deeds can live on through stories. The mere existence of this poem can attest to this idea.
Shakespeare's Exploration in Sonnet 2 of the Themes of Age and Beauty. Look closely at the effects of language, imagery and handling of the sonnet form. Comment on ways in which the poem’s methods and concerns are characteristics of other Shakespeare sonnets you have studied. The second of Shakespeare’s sonnets conveys an argument the poet is. making somewhat implicitly to a subject whose identity is hazy and unknown to the reader, even in retrospect.
...derstanding of time passed and time that remains allows one to become comfortable with such circumstances and express a love that must soon retire.The metaphors that represent the theme throughout the poem are similar in the way they all show the devastating and destructive factors of time. Further more, they provide a discourse surrounding the issue of mortality. With anticipation increasing from beginning to end, Shakespeare is able to demonstrate a level of comfort surrounding the inevitable. The continual imposition of death on life is a universal experience. Autumn turning into winter, day turning into night, and a flame diminishing entirely all illustrate this. The increase in intensity of associated color with metaphors mimics the intensity of the ending. As the end draws increasingly near, it becomes undeniable and provides the catalyst for the lesson of love.
As each day goes by the beauty of our vibrant youth decays and diminishes. In "Sonnet 15" Shakespeare refers to youth as life at its peak, however this precious point in our life is short-lived. Shakespeare speaks of youth as a single moment of perfection. He glorifies youth and alleges to immortalize it through his poetic words. He uses metaphors, imagery, and rhyme in a way to enhance the beauty and perfection of mans youth while in its prime. Through this he demonstrate the love and richness of youth despite the tole time takes on it.
The speaker in this poem is portrayed as being immediately joyful, which represents Blake’s larger view of childhood as a state of joy that is untouched by humanity, and is untarnished by the experience of the real world. In contrast, Blake’s portrayal of adulthood is one of negativity and pessimism.... ... middle of paper ... ...