Outliving Time"And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand/ Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand." This climactic couplet from William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 60" implies that Shakespeare's poetry will outlive time itself and exist to praise humanity's worth, despite what time takes away from humanity. In the sonnet, the speaker is the poet, and the poem is written for any reader as a type of testament to humanity. Shakespeare unleashes his meditations over the relationship between man and time with a simile full of quick, steady motion, "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,/ So do our minutes hasten to their end". Shakespeare uses the universal "we" so the reader identifies with him and to group all of humanity together as an entity that comes under the influence of time. The image of waves moving toward the "pebbled shore" implies that the progression of "our minutes" occurs in quick surges, inevitable and unstoppable. The description of the shore as pebbled implies an interesting irony because "shore" denotes support, "pebbled" denotes rough and harsh, and support is not usually thought as being rough or harsh. The personified image of "our minutes", a metaphor for the experience of living, "hastening" to their end implies that the progression of time is quick and out of humanity's control. The emphasis of "their end" is ironic because it appears in the beginning of the sonnet, and the irony contributes to the image of the waves constantly "changing place". The "end" toward which our minutes are propagating denotes an ultimate state and a purpose, yet the propagation itself is characterized by constant "changing". The sonnet seems to raise the question, "To where is mankind heading, what is his final state?" The last line of the introduction gives insight into the paradoxical nature of the progression of time. The emphasized line, "In sequent toil all forwards do contend", implies that the waves progress eagerly, in constant preparation for the future, but in a succession of drudgeries. In the development quatrain, the speaker personifies time and identifies the relationship between time and the marked points in life of birth and maturity. Shakespeare addresses "Nativity" which alludes to the birth of Jesus Christ, and lines six and seven carry out the allusion with images of crawling, crowning, and an eclipse of glory which coincide with the biblical story of Jesus. Shakespeare seems to question how time affects us on a spiritual level. After the apostrophe, Shakespeare immediately moves into describing the degradation of everything innocent, truthful, and enlightening about birth by saying "Nativity, once in the main of light,/ Crawls to maturity". Shakespeare stresses that birth exists "once in the main of light" which suggests that birth has moved out of a state of truth and enlightenment. Birth immediately begins crawling toward maturity. The speaker does not glorify the beauty of birth's truth because the image of birth crawling suggests weakness and submission. In addition, even at the pinnacle of mankind's development mankind immediately begins to descend into obscurity and disgrace as "crooked eclipses" struggle against man's "glory". This mirrors the wave imagery because a point on a wave at its greatest amplitude inevitably descends. The contrast between "light" and "crooked" also implies a descent into dishonor as we reach maturity from birth. The personification of time in the line, "And Time that gave, doth now his gift confound." ultimately implies that time has a capricious and deceptive nature. Time begins as a benevolent giver; however, upon reaching our final, most honorable state Time mistakes his gift sending man into bewilderment and dismay. The speaker expounds upon the gifts that Time takes away from humanity in the intensification quatrain that begins, "Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth". In a violent manner, personified time literally pierces the thriving, prosperous nature of youth. The characteristics associated with youth, namely embellishment, dramatic action, prosperity, and a future in which to fulfill dreams and live happily are disintegrated by time and dwindle in old age. In a similar manner, time inevitably strips us of all of our beauty, and the truths inherent in our nature. The image of "parallels in beauty's brow" suggests wrinkles and demarcations that stem from old age. The image of time feeding on the "rarities of nature's truth" makes time an entity in need of sustenance. The need for sustenance intensifies into a ruthless, destructive image in the last line, "And nothing stands for but his scythe to mow". That image suggests time is unforgiving and undiscriminating in its consumption and ruin of our value. Shakespeare's straightforward imagery of time stripping mankind of youth, beauty, and intrinsic truths reveals a very bleak and devastating attitude toward time. The effect of time's cruel devastation of humanity's value is counteracted in the climactic couplet. Shakespeare's answer to time's cruelty is his "verse" which shall praise the worth of man despite what time takes away. Shakespeare's verse can "stand" because unlike the wavy propagation of time toward an uninviting end, his verse will remain a steadfast attestation to mankind's worth. The bleakness of reaching a final state at a "pebbled shore" has changed to "times in hope" which conveys a promise for the future and the fulfillment of desires. The last line, "Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand." deviates from Shakespeare's near impeccable pentameter by one syllable. Since Shakespeare was so adept with pentameter, this deviation draws attention to the line and adds emphasis. It is ironic that the line containing Shakespeare's generously praise to the reader lacks a syllable which raises the question of Shakespeare's sincerity. Shakespeare never defines "Thy worth" throughout the sonnet. In fact, he only expresses what mankind can lose. The surprising compliment, sincere or insincere, leads the reader to question, "What is my worth and what is its relationship to time?" The sonnet itself lives and breathes and experiences the progression of time because of the evolution of Shakespeare's tone. At the outset, Shakespeare's tone is relaxed as he conjures images of the ocean. Through the third quatrain, Shakespeare's tone intensifies, and he becomes more urgent as he tallies time's destruction of mankind's worth. The urgency coincides with attitudes of anger towards time's heartless cruelty. In the climax, Shakespeare triumphs, and his verse is the champion of humanity's worth. The couplet itself is a crowning end. |
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