Another one of the procreation Sonnets with slight yet incredibly
interesting twist. In this Sonnet the persona openly concedes that the Fair
Youth "will" or "must" go through the ravages of Time.
Whether this is just to stir up fear within the Fair Youth or just a sincere
concession is up for debate. Whatever the case may be, a sense of realism and
practicality pervades the whole plea for procreation henceforth.
Line 1 makes use of the most obvious images of the passage of time, a
clock seemingly congruent with the practical or realistic nature of this
particular Sonnet. Furthermore the phrase " ...I do count..."
conjures the feeling of an all-seeing persona, a persona with a bird's eye view
of Time's progression, a somewhat seasoned campaigner when it comes to the
effects of time. Surely such a person would know best how to take on mortality
and yet the Fair Youth is ever incredulous to this line of thought.
The description of the Sun as brave in Line 2 portrays the defiance to
the razing of time as a noble and worthy cause, a quest requiring courage.
Courage the Fair Youth declines to exhibit. Does this then justify the
misgivings the Fair Youth seems to have?
From clock to day, from day to luscious violet from violet to metamorphosing
hair, from hair to seasonal tree all seemingly mundane yet necessary excerpts
from life suffer from Time's destructive tendencies all under the watchful eye
of the persona whose words of advice do not seem to be enough for the Fair
Youth. Time seems so efficient, so ruthless, a grim reaper of sorts aiding each
and every facet of the world to mortality.
Even the Fair Youth's beauty is to be tested by the strength of time,
"That thou among the wastes of time must go" and surely how-so-ever
prominent or awe-inspiring it cannot survive, for sure nothing against time's scythe
can make defence and the only way to guard the beauty is to bear children.