Sonnet 19
SONNET #19 by: William Shakespeare
D
EVOURING time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as they fleet'st,
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets,
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.
Interpretation:
Before I interpret, I did a little research or background about the sonnet. The poet dedicated this sonnet for a fair lord and not a maiden. This sonnet states his admiration and his love for the fair lord (twice in this sonnet). So, in the sonnet 20 (which I read too, by the way) I read that the poet described the fair lord much better than any woman. His eyes were brighter. His beauty attracts a lot of men and captivates a lot of women. He was very in love with this fair lord. On sonnet 19, he’s just dropping or giving hints and in Sonnet 20, he stated his love for this fair lord.
So, moving on to the analysis:
At first, the poet or discussed about what time can do to you. The lion’s paws are becoming less sharper , everyone dies, tigers grow old and lose their teeth and even a phoenix who lives a hundred years dies burning themselves. It states that our youth doesn’t last forever. Our youth will fade eventually. And it states that time brings the changes in the seasons.
On the latter part of the poem, the lines states that even though the time makes changes ,even good or bad, there’s one crime that he won’t let the time do and that is not to carve or to draw lines on his love’s face; meaning not let time ruin his love’s beauty by making him old and giving him wrinkles
D
EVOURING time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as they fleet'st,
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets,
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O, carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.
Interpretation:
Before I interpret, I did a little research or background about the sonnet. The poet dedicated this sonnet for a fair lord and not a maiden. This sonnet states his admiration and his love for the fair lord (twice in this sonnet). So, in the sonnet 20 (which I read too, by the way) I read that the poet described the fair lord much better than any woman. His eyes were brighter. His beauty attracts a lot of men and captivates a lot of women. He was very in love with this fair lord. On sonnet 19, he’s just dropping or giving hints and in Sonnet 20, he stated his love for this fair lord.
So, moving on to the analysis:
At first, the poet or discussed about what time can do to you. The lion’s paws are becoming less sharper , everyone dies, tigers grow old and lose their teeth and even a phoenix who lives a hundred years dies burning themselves. It states that our youth doesn’t last forever. Our youth will fade eventually. And it states that time brings the changes in the seasons.
On the latter part of the poem, the lines states that even though the time makes changes ,even good or bad, there’s one crime that he won’t let the time do and that is not to carve or to draw lines on his love’s face; meaning not let time ruin his love’s beauty by making him old and giving him wrinkles