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READ THIS
The poet looks at the beauty of his "fair Friend" and decides that this beauty is ageless. Indeed,
he has known this "Friend" for three years now and believes that she is quite as beautiful as when
he first met her.
Later in the sonnet he does appear to have some hesitation about the lasting impact of aging, but then
concludes rather outrageously that the beauty of this "fair Friend" is beyond even Beauty herself.
ABOUT THE POET
William Shakespeare, commonly known simply as "The Bard", was born in April 1564. Although
he lived a mere 52 years, he has won himself the reputation of being the greatest of all English poets and
playwrights.
He grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon where, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had
three children. Modern scholars love to question whether or not he was actually gay -- but such is the
energy-sapping research of these scholars.
The Bard established a most successful career for himself in acting and in writing for the stage. Ultimately
he became the part-owner of The Lord Chamberlain's Men, a theatrical company which eventually
came to be known as The King's Men.
In his early years in theatrics, Shakespeare focussed his attention on writing comedies and histories. Only
later did he produce a series of tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth and King
Lear, the works for which he is preeminently known.
Although he wrote two lengthy narrative poems as well as several other shorter poems, his reputation as
a poet was established through his amazing collection of sonnets -- 154 in all.
Indeed, his particular style of sonnet, commonly known as the Elizabethan form, is also referred to simply
as "the Shakespearian sonnet".
In about 1613, he returned to Stratford-upon-Avon and died there in April 1616.
Scholars would later come to question not only his sexual stance but also whether or not it was he who
actually wrote all the work attributed to him.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived."
- What is the purpose of this reference to "a dial-hand"? (4)
[Need help?]
Did you know that, before the pendulum clock was invented, Peter Henlein of Germany had invented a
spring-powered clock in about 1510. It was not very precise though. The first clock with a minute hand was
then invented by Jost Burgi in 1577.
In other words, the clock as we know it -- with minute hand and an hour hand -- was invented just
before Shakespeare was born or while he was still a child. He probably saw one in London and would
have been most impressed -- as we are usually impressed with new inventions.
The clock was possibly therefore the talking point of London when the Bard wrote this sonnet. It was, of
course, the means for accurately counting the passing of time.
The "dial-hand" in this sonnet is therefore a reference to the passing of time and, with the passing
of time, the passing too of beauty as all things age.
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- Can you explain why the poet has chosen to use the word, "steal"? (4)
[Need help?]
To "steal" could mean either "to move very slowly" or "to take away something belonging
to another person".
The poet probably has both meanings in mind. The dial-hand of the clock "steals" around the face,
i.e. it moves very slowly.
On the other hand, the passing of time "steals" beauty from a person.
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- On the other hand, what would be in the poet's mind when he writes, "Ah! yet doth beauty, like a
dial-hand, steal from his figure, and no pace perceived"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet has been making the point that the beauty of his "fair Friend" will never fade away. Now,
however, he hesitates and questions that very statement.
Time, he says, will always be passing. Everything therefore ages. It is slow -- "steal" -- and
sometimes one does not even know that it is happening -- "no pace perceived".
Nevertheless, aging is a reality of life and, with aging, comes the loss of beauty.
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The poet has made some very bold statements about his "fair Friend" in the first two stanzas, and
yet he appears to hesitate in Stanza 3.
- What words in the Stanza 3 suggest this hesitation? (4)
[Need help?]
What about:
- "Yet doth beauty steal from his figure";
- "So your sweet hue hath motion";
- "Mine eye may be deceived".
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- Why does the poet appear to undergo this hesitation? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is suddenly realistic, isn't he? Everything ages. Indeed, aging is part and parcel of life. And so,
despite his claim that his fair Friend" will never lose her beauty, that is simply not a reasonable
thought.
A reading of many of Shakespeare's other sonnets indicates that the Bard was well aware of the passing
of time and the passing of beauty. In fact, when dealing with true love, he always made it clear that love
did not change with the passing of time and the fading of beauty. Love was always the constant while
beauty faded.
See, for example, his sonnet "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments".
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"For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred, --
Ere you were born, was beauty's summer dead."
- The poet concludes his sonnet with a truly outrageous exaggeration. Can you explain what this
is? (4)
[Need help?]
Shakespeare is known for his staggeringly outrageous conclusions, so this one is nothing new.
The Bard is in fact claiming that, even before Death or Old Man Time or the Grim Reaper was born,
beauty was already dead. Or that beauty had existed but was now quite dead.
His "fair Friend" is therefore a new beauty, far better than any that had hitherto existed.
Now, if that's not an exaggeration, I don't know what is!
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- The poet is addressing a "person" whom he refers to as "thou age unbred". Who is this
person? (4)
[Need help?]
Shakespeare probably has Old Man Time in mind, or The Grim Reaper -- that awesome figure in black
robes, bearing a scythe and looking for people to gather into his harvest of the dead. This figure is
common in Shakespeare's sonnets.
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- Why then does he speak of him as "thou age unbred"? (4)
[Need help?]
"Unbred" means "without breeding" or "uncouth and unmannered".
The Grim Reaper therefore is uncouth, destroying everything that is beautiful, placing all into his basket
of the dead. Quite disgusting, really.
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