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READ THIS
The poet looks at the aging process, noting how everything passes from youth to old age and death.
Nothing can stop it, he says, except perhaps if we each breed lots of children, then we will live on through
those children.
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:
"When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard."
- What is the theme of this quatrain? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet looks at the passing of time in nature, in terms of the changing seasons. As winter approaches,
the trees lose their leaves, the wheat and rye fields turn from green to gold and the grain crop is then
harvested. The remaining stalks are gathered up into sheaves which then are covered in frost in the
winter.
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- Why does the poet refer to the trees as "lofty"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet wishes us to perceive tall trees rather than shrubs. He could, of course, have referred simply
to "trees" but let's not forget that he needs two extra syllables in the line, and "lofty" gives him that.
In other words, it's more lyrically correct. Nevertheless, the word "lofty" also gives the impression of the
trees being tall and thin.
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- Why does the poet use the word "barren" rather than "bare"? (4)
[Need help?]
"Bare of leaves" would have done the trick, showing a tree denuded of its foliage. On the other hand,
"barren" also carries a little extra meaning.
"Barren" also means "lifeless", or without the ability of bearing life. A woman who is said to be "barren"
is one who is not capable of falling pregnant and having children.
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- Rewrite in your own words so as to make the meaning clearer: "Which erst from heat did canopy the
herd." (4)
[Need help?]
What about: "The trees which once cast shade to keep the herds of animals cool"?
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"And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard."
- The poet refers here to three colours which depict the passing of the seasons. What are these colours
and how do they represent the seasons? Explain your answer. (6)
[Need help?]
The fields are green in the spring and early summer as the wheat, rye and barley is young and growing.
Then, as summer turns to autumn, the grains ripen and the fields turn to yellow and gold.
Eventually the grains are harvested and the remaining stalks are gathered into sheaves as animal fodder.
Here they go white and bristly with frost, as though they had old men's beards.
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- What image is the poet using when he says that the sheaves are "borne on the
bier"? (4)
[Need help?]
Winter means death. The sheaves become covered with frost to make them look like old men with bristly
white stubble beards, but they are being carried on a wagon as if to their funeral.
There is therefore a powerful metaphor here where the sheaves, all covered in frost, are like an old man
wrapped in a shroud with just his stubble white beard protruding, being taken by wagon to the church for
his funeral.
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"Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow."
- Who is the subject to whom Shakespeare is speaking? In other words, whom does he mean when
he says, "thy"? (2)
[Need help?]
"Thy" is an unknown person, often referred to as "his lord". It could be a specific but unknown patron for
whom Shakespeare is writing this sonnet, or perhaps Shakespeare is addressing us all.
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- What point is the poet making in his "question"? (4)
[Need help?]
Shakespeare is probably questioning his patron's beauty. That beauty will in time age and fade away, and
the person will eventually die.
In other words, there is no such thing as beauty that will last forever. We are all mortal. We must all die.
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- What does the poet mean when he speaks of "sweets and beauties"? (4)
[Need help?]
"Sweets and beauties" mean the same thing, really. Anything that is sweet and beautiful will still eventually
age, lose its sweetness and good looks, and then die.
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"And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence."
- What does the poet mean by "Time's scythe"? According to the poet, what is the only way we can
protect ourselves from the "scythe" of Death? (6)
[Need help?]
Death is often portrayed as the Grim Reaper who comes along with his scythe to gather the souls of the
living into his eternal collection.
Nobody can escape the Grim Reaper but, says the poet, if we breed lots of children, we might still live on
through those children.
Notice that the poet says we will "brave him". Through our children, he says, we will be able to stand up
to Death, even defeat him.
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