Meheak Singh

Ms. Gardner

English 10H/Period 1

13 September 2015

Drowning

Death lurks over her like a gloomy cloud

She fears the unknown, but yet the expected

Devour her: this the black darkness vows.

She drowns in a pool of Time, dejected.

Scratching,clawing, doing anything to

Stay afloat in the lake of her deep fears.

Death smirks above her, her time overdue

She thought she had surpassed Time by some years

This was misread, for Time will never end.

Her limbs heavy with fright, drag her deep down.

There is no way for her life to extend,

Because upon her Death and Time do frown.

She struggles to reach the hot burning sun

But it is no use to fight, Death has won

Analysis

By using expressive imagery, Shakespeare paints a realistic picture of autumn’s transition into winter; the speakers transition from living to dying. In Sonnet 73, Time progresses as life fades away; throughout the poem the speaker feels the foreboding sense of Death as he continues to age. Shakespeare uses the transition of fall into winter as symbol for Death. “Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.” The ruined choirs represent the branches of trees, where life was plentiful at one time, but now are ruined and empty. This relates to Death because it signals the end of the tree’s life. The speaker also refers to the night as ‘Death’s second­self.” I believe this signifies the fact that a lot of people rest during the night, similar to how people wish the deceased to rest in peace. As Time continues to pass, the speaker is slowly losing his hold on his youth, He realizes that “his youth doth lie” on “the death­bed, whereon it must expire” The speaker is beginning to terms with this new understanding, when he recognizes that his time running out. Although Death is expected, the speaker is still living in denial and fear. He seems to now be conscious of the fact that although at one point in his life he had all the time he needed, his time is beginning to come to an end now. Once he has admitted this to himself, he beings to cherish his life more, and embraces what time he has, since he knows it will not last very long. This is seen in the final couplet, where he can see the end coming, and knows that “thou must leave ere long” making “thy love more strong” than it was before. This shows the transition the speaker has throughout the poem, and that he has accepted the fact that he is dying now.