That Time Of The Year Thou Mayst See

William Shakespeare’s name has power in it because of his marvelous creations. Shakespeare is one of the most famous sonnet writers so does his sonnet 73. “That Time Of The Year Thou Mayst In Me Behold” is written in his later time when he finished writing many of his major plays. Shakespeare frequently uses a rhyme scheme in the sonnets that follows a pattern of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. This Shakespearean pattern divides poem in to three distinct quatrains that can develop a separate metaphor for each, followed by a closing couplet that sums up what has discussed through the previous parts. Therefore, Shakespeare utilizes visual images, symbols, and metrical devices like metaphor and conveys the theme by dividing it into three quatrains and summing up in the last couplet.

First four lines depict the loneliness of aging with the image of season’s change. According to the Shakespeare’s sonnet in Literature written by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, the second line of “yellow leaves… do hang upon those boughs” (787) indicates that the setting is late autumn. The speaker also mentions the “bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang” (787) to emphasize the loss of energy since the choir at the church and bird’s song implies that speaker’s life was once grand and filled with glory. In addition, the image of yellow leaves that are barely hanging on the branches in the first quatrain somewhat resembles an old man’s half-bold hair, thus directly pointing to the theme of aging. At the second line, speaker compares seems to reject that he is aging by “[shaking] against the cold” of time (787). The word, “against” underscores that he does not enjoy aging at all. With the vivid image of season’s change, Shakespeare gives an impression th...

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...akespeare tells the readers, as they read through the quatrains, that the accelerated speed of time is like a fire in the third quatrain, which burns faster than the season’s change in first quatrain.

In the last couplet, the teaching of valuing the youth when it is present strongly convinces readers with a well-developed sentence scale metaphors. In other words, if people can perceive their limitation and temporary existence in the Earth, they may learn to better love and appreciate what is given to them now. Interestingly, some people argue that the theme of this sonnet is a speaker asking his lover to understand his aging so that they can continue to love each other. However, the sonnet rather teaches young people to love and appreciate what is given to them and not to waste the time. After all, William Shakespeare never disappoints his readers with his works.