by Oscar Wellington

Created on: August 09, 2009

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 60 deals with the problem of Time, as well as the eventual death that will be delivered by his scythe. However, this sonnet is not entirely despondent, and towards the end, Shakespeare hopes to conquer Time.

In the first four lines, Shakespeare uses the waves crashing in and out to explain what is happening to all beings every second: "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end; / Each changing place with that which goes before, / In sequent toil all forwards do contend" (1-4). Just as the tides fade in and out of the shore, slowly eroding the rocks and land, the life of every being is similarly trickling away. As Shakespeare explains, the worst part is perhaps the fact that as one "wave" of the sea, or life fades into obscurity, another simply replaces it, continuing the almost monotonous cycle. In addition, these "waves" continue on, endlessly "In sequent toil" or labor, fighting or contending against the shore (life's problems).

In the next four lines, Shakespeare continues this message of the sea as a representation of human life and how both fight against Time's force: "Nativity, once in the main of light, / Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd / Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight / And Time that gave doth now his gift confound" (5-8). Shakespeare notes how it all begins in "Nativity" or birth, which is in the prime and exuberant "main of light". From then, beings crawl to maturity, just as babies would, and upon being "crown'd" or reaching maturity, Time rears his head and begins his haunting (6-7). Note that crawling also refers to the end years of life, as in a being crawling on in old age, waiting for Time to take them.

The "Crooked eclipses" represent evil shapes that would bring a bad omen, signifying Time's presence and that a being's time is near. In addition, these eclipses change how the tides work, and thus they combat Time. In other words, the moon controls the tides, and so rather than having the waves crash a certain way, adhering to Time, the moon fights "against his glory" by manipulating how the waves will react. Time's "gift" is life, and thus when Time comes to claim a being in old age, he is essentially confounding or overturning himself by taking back a gift that he already gave.

The last six lines deal with Time and his fascination further: "Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth / And delves the parallels in beauty's brow, / Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, / And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: / And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand / Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand" (9-14). Shakespeare details how Time focuses on the youth more than anyone, despite the old that are more vulnerable to his culling. This fixation is probably in the form of destroying beauty by attacking and what is considering "young". For instance, Time "delves" or digs into "beauty's brow" in the form of wrinkles or furrows. Time is therefore a monster, and he is described to be consuming "nature's truth" or true beauty. Nothing stands in Time's way, except for the unfortunate that he will mow down with his scythe.

Yet despite all of the maliciousness of Time, Shakespeare does not fear, for he hopes that "my verse shall stand" (13) the test of Time. More specifically, Shakespeare hopes that his verses which praise an unannounced beloved will stay most of all, despite time's "cruel hand" (14). Overall, this is another excellent sonnet that uses the imagery of waves beating against the shore to signify the tireless efforts of humans to delay Time and simply make it through life.

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