Explication of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73”

Explication of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73” In “Sonnet 73,” William Shakespeare utilizes a somber mood, strong imagery, and intense metaphors, which construct a window into the soul of a dying old man for Shakespeare’s audience to visualize the dreadful oncoming of death and question the meaning of life. “Sonnet 73” is identical in structure to Shakespeare’s other sonnets with three quatrains and ending in a couplet. In the three quatrains Shakespeare compares the narrator to the transition from late fall to winter, the coming of darkness at the end of the day, and the dying of a flame. Shakespeare uses a different quatrain to elaborate each of these three metaphors that all envelop the poem’s theme of mortality leading to death. Though the poem has a theme surrounded by death the ending couplet gives a slight relief to the somber mood by conveying a message that relays appreciation for love and compassion. The somber mood in “Sonnet 73” allows Shakespeare to deliver his audience the gloomy experience of sensing death approach in a man’s declining years. “Sonnet 73” begins “That time of year thou mayst in me behold/When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang” (“Shakespeare”1-2). The poem opens with the narrator saying that you can see the end of fall in him. Shakespeare begins the somber mood early with these first two lines by having the narrator introduce himself as a dying season. This is the first of several illusions to death that set the somber mood of the poem. The next reference to death begins in the second quatrain with “In me thou seest the twilight of such day/As after sunset fadeth in the west,/Which by and by black night doth take away Death's second self, that seals up all in rest” (“Shakespeare”5-8). The narrator is saying that you can only see the dim light left in his soul that will soon be taken by the darkness of death. In the second quatrain the somber mood of the poem and the reoccurring image of death can again be felt by Shakespeare’s audience. In the first quatrain the strong imagery from Shakespeare is seen in the lines “When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang/ Upon those boughs which shake against the cold” (“Shakespeare”2-3). This gives the reader an image or memory of late fall when the trees are nearly bare only having a minute number of leaves that shake in the familiar cold wind of this season. The poem’s strong imagery is seen again in the lines “As after sunset fadeth in the west,/ Which by and by black night doth take away” (“Shakespeare”6-7). These two lines project an image of the sky when the last bit of sunlight fades and darkness spreads. This strong imagery in the poem allows the reader to comprehend the despair in the old man as he approaches his death bed and question the meaning of life. Throughout “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare effectively uses deep metaphors that relate the old man’s ending life with the oncoming of winter, a dimming light, and the last ember of a fire fading out. The intense metaphors in this poem really help the reader understand the sorrowful tone and mood of the poem. In each quatrain the narrator compares his fading life to fading elements of nature and emphasizes the dreadful experience of awaiting death. Throughout the metaphors in this poem the narrator progressively seems to come to peace with the fact that his time to pass has come. This is seen most in the poem in the ending couplet. “This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, /To love that well which thou must leave ere long” (“Shakespeare”13-14). In this couplet the narrator is speaking to a loved one and telling them he knows they sense his death and they must love what they are going to soon lose. In “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare skillfully portrays the sorrow in the soul of the old man that reflects his ending life through gloomy metaphors. The somber mood and strong imagery Shakespeare uses enhances the feeling of empathy from the audience for the dying old man and compels them to feel empathy and compassion for the narrator. The narrator’s deep comparison of his life and the oncoming of death cause the reader to question the meaning and purpose of life. Shakespeare conveys in the ending couplet that the answer to life’s big question is love.