Sonnet 7 is hinged on a new piece of imagery: the passage of the Sun
from sunrise to sunset. This Classical imagery was fairly common in works of
the time as it drew upon mythological tales of Apollo riding in his chariot across the
skies. However, just like the ones before it, the major theme is still
procreation, a continual plea to the Fair Youth.
Beginning
the poem with the word, "Lo," serves to draw maximum attention to
what is to come after, as good an introduction as any, as it draws on the
familiar phrase 'Lo and behold'. The persona immediately employs flattering
descriptions when referring to the Fair Youth with the word
"gracious," implying a
generous nature. The pedestal which has been under continuous construction for the Fair Youth
seems to have literally materialised in Line 2
as all those who view the gracious light can only view it from below, looking
up to it like expectant disciples. The picture painted is a larger than life
figure showering his appreciative subjects with unparalleled beauty. Beauty at its prime and in its
most desirable state. An all-conquering demigod as all who look upon him
"Doth homage," offer their respect. This line also serves to take us
back to supposedly the day of the Fair Youth's birth. The day when all the
world did converge before that pleasurable sight much like the birth of an heir
to a throne.
Seeing
as the Sun is being used as a metaphor for the Fair Youth and his progression
through life, the "steep-up heavenly hill," seems to allude to the
leap from childhood to the puberty stage and early adulthood. The
"heavenly hill" where offspring can be made. It may seem rather
outlandish for the word 'heavenly' to connote any form of sexual relevance and
yet the feeling of orgasmic ruptures would certainly arouse a 'heavenly' or at
least mystic state of being.
Lines
6 and 7 reflect the power of deception and immortality as only "mortal
eyes" are deceived by the Sun's fleeting beauty, they continue to see
vibrancy and elaborate beauty. Whilst everyone else is under the illusion, the
persona apparently sees through the Fair Youth's guise. A hint of megalomania
maybe or does he know the Fair Youth so well.
And
then noon comes, "high-most pitch," the zenith. The climax of beauty,
the point where all development ceases and youth and old age engage in a
one-sided tug-o-war. Apollo's chariot is immediately "weary" the Sun
"reeleth" in fatigue as the plunge to sunset begins. It is a
fore-shadowing of what lies ahead for the Fair Youth. An inevitable consequence
as we see it played out by the Sun day by day.
The
final couplet brings forth the verdict; like the Sun's light disappearing in
the horizon, the beauty will forever fade with no sunrise unless a son is to be
born to take upon the throne. A mighty tedious throne as the unrelenting
pressure to reproduce cannot be understated.
In
Sonnet 7, William Shakespeare makes use of the strongest metaphor yet as the
Fair Youth can look upon the Sun every single day and eulogise about his
responsibility to the world.
Also worth
noting is that not unlike other Shakespearean sonnets, sonnet 7 utilizes
simplistic "word play" and "key words" to underline the
thematic meaning. These words appear in root form or similar variations. The
poetic eye finds interest in the use of 'looks' (line 4), 'looks' (line 7),
'look' (line 12), and 'unlook'd' (line 14). A more thematic word play used is
those words denoting 'age', but that are not explicitly identifiable.
Doth homage to
his new-appearing sight,
Resembling strong youth in his middle age,
Attending on his golden pilgrimage;
Resembling strong youth in his middle age,
Attending on his golden pilgrimage;
By using words typical of expressing human features (e.g. youth), the reader begins to
identify the sun as being representative of man. The sun does not assume an
actual 'age', therefore we infer that the subject of the poem is man.