Shakespeare Figurative Language

People ridicule others for their mourning of their loved ones after death. This human aspect is highlighted in Shakespeare’s sonnet LXXI. It is through diction, sound devices, irony, and figurative language that Shakespeare reveals his outlook on death and grief. Starting in the 1st line it is told to beloved not to “mourn” (1) for the speaker when they have died. This establishes that the speaker does not want to be remembered while simultaneously implying a remembrance of them. It sets a strange tone for the rest of the poem while also showing that Shakespeare thinks death should be forgotten but knows it cannot be. Shakespeare begins to set up this scene of church “bell[s]” (2) ringing. This was typical in his era for bells to be rung
The line seems to create a dark, horrible auditory imagery of the bell announcing the speaker fleeing from this world. “surly” (2) shows that the bell is not well received by the beloved. And, “sullen” (2) displays how unreal death seems. The bell is moving slowly, almost stuck in time as it indifferently “give[s] warning” (3) the speaker is dead. The next line tells that they have “fled” (3) from the “vile world” and now “dwell” with “vilest worms” (4). Although the speaker has left a disgusting world he has also been put in the ground with the worst of the worst. Shakespeare does not believe that death brings you into a place any better than the one before. He sees the afterlife as worse; for the dead are just as wicked as the living. This can be concurred from the fact he calls them “worms” (4) which refers to him being in the ground with them. Still the theme of not remembering is sustained as Shakespeare writes that the speaker should be “forgot” in beloved’s “sweet thoughts” (7). The speaker does not want death to hinder beloved from living. Such “woe” (8) would be burdensome to them and ruin their amiable viewpoint on the speaker and the world. Their “sweet thoughts” (7) would be tainted by the memory of the speaker