That Time Of Year Thou Mayst In Me Behold

That Time Of Year Thou Mayst In Me Behold
William Shakespeare

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.


As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,


As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day


In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong

This is a Shakespearean sonnet, written in iambic pentameter with an abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme. This poem regards time, death, and nature. Shakespeare outlines how time is made up of the past, present, and future. Towards the end of the poem, he begins talking about how they should treasure their love more and more as the grows older, as he will die soon. The changing of the seasons, mainly in quatrain 1, compares himself to a tree that's losing all its leave. Then, in quatrain 2, he compares himself to a fading sunset, and in quatrain 3 compares himself to the last glow of a fire slowly burning out. In the couplet, we realize that he's talking about a relationship that he wishes will grow stronger as he is nearing death. The volta, I believe, is in this couplet because it is just now revealed what his goal this entire time has been--asking his true love to love him more, as he doesn't have much time left. I chose this sonnet because I thought it had beautiful imagery and language, and I'm a fan of Shakespeare, so I wanted to tackle a poem of his. The way he ties imagery into the theme of his poem centered around time and nature is beautiful and very eloquent.