William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 63 is a poignant reflection on the inevitable ravages of time, the decay of physical beauty, and the power of poetry to immortalize love. As with many of his other sonnets, Shakespeare explores the transient nature of life and the beauty that is subject to Time’s cruel march. In this sonnet, the poet addresses the concept of aging, but unlike the traditional lament for the loss of beauty, the speaker proposes a solution to preserve that beauty against Time’s assault. Through a close reading of the poem, we can uncover the ways in which Shakespeare uses form, imagery, and language to explore love, mortality, and the redemptive power of poetry.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 63
Against my love shall be, as I am now,
With Time’s injurious hand crushed and o’erworn;
When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow
4With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn
Hath traveled on to age’s steepy night,
And all those beauties whereof now he’s king
Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight,
8Stealing away the treasure of his spring;
For such a time do I now fortify
Against confounding age’s cruel knife,
That he shall never cut from memory
12My sweet love’s beauty, though my lover’s life.
His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
And they shall live, and he in them still green.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 63
Sonnet 63 follows the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, consisting of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, adhering to the classical structure of three quatrains and a final rhymed couplet. The form, with its controlled rhythm and rhyme, lends a sense of permanence to the speaker’s argument, underscoring the theme of immortality within the poem.
The tone of Sonnet 63 is a blend of sorrow and defiance. There is an underlying sadness in the contemplation of aging and the physical decay that comes with it, but there is also a sense of resolve and determination. The speaker is not merely lamenting the passing of time; rather, he is confronting it and asserting his ability to preserve love and beauty through the power of writing. There is both resignation to Time’s natural processes and a defiance of its ultimate victory, for the poet believes that the written word can preserve what the body cannot.
Analysis of Sonnet 63
Lines 1–4
“Against my love shall be, as I am now,
With Time’s injurious hand crushed and o’erworn;
When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow
With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn…”
In the first quatrain, the speaker imagines the future deterioration of his lover’s physical appearance. The phrase “Against my love shall be” suggests an inevitable future battle between the speaker’s love and the ravages of Time. The word “injurious” personifies Time as an adversary, implying that Time is not only destructive but actively harmful. The imagery of “crushed and o’erworn” evokes a sense of exhaustion and defeat, as if Time grinds down the physical form, draining it of vitality. The line “When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow” intensifies this image, implying a loss of life force and youth, leading to the eventual appearance of age, depicted through “lines and wrinkles.”
The mention of “youthful morn” creates a sharp contrast with the later imagery of aging. “Morn” represents the early, vibrant phase of life, while the inevitable progression to “age’s steepy night” (in line 5) marks the shift from vitality to decline.
Lines 5–8
“Hath traveled on to age’s steepy night,
And all those beauties whereof now he’s king
Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight,
Stealing away the treasure of his spring;”
Here, Shakespeare employs the metaphor of a journey to convey the passage of time: the lover’s “youthful morn” has “traveled on” to the “steepy night” of old age. The adjective “steepy” evokes a sense of descent, suggesting that old age is not merely a natural process, but a steep and difficult decline. The phrase “beauties whereof now he’s king” refers to the lover’s current physical beauty and vitality, which, in this moment, hold dominion over time. However, these “beauties” are quickly slipping away—”vanishing, or vanished out of sight”—emphasizing the fleeting nature of youthful appearances. “The treasure of his spring” is a powerful metaphor for the vibrancy and life that characterize youth, now being stolen away by the passage of time.
Lines 9–12
“For such a time do I now fortify
Against confounding age’s cruel knife,
That he shall never cut from memory
My sweet love’s beauty, though my lover’s life.”
In these lines, the speaker shifts from a passive observation of aging to an active stance. The use of the word “fortify” suggests that the speaker is preparing for the assault of time, metaphorically arming himself against the “cruel knife” of age. The “knife” is a grim metaphor for the way that aging physically dissects and diminishes beauty. However, the speaker asserts that Time’s physical ravages will not “cut from memory” the beauty of his lover. The word “memory” here is crucial—it emphasizes that the lover’s beauty can be preserved in the mind and the heart, even when it fades from the physical realm.
The phrase “though my lover’s life” acknowledges the mortality of the lover, and while Time may take his life, it will not erase the love or the beauty the speaker cherishes. This creates a poignant contrast between the inevitable loss of life and the potential for the beauty to endure beyond it, in the realm of memory and poetry.
Lines 13–14
“His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
And they shall live, and he in them still green.”
In the final couplet, the speaker reveals the solution to the problem posed throughout the sonnet: poetry. The lover’s beauty will “live” in the “black lines” of the poem. The phrase “black lines” refers to the ink on the page, which represents both the medium of preservation and the passage of time itself. “These black lines” become the vehicle by which the lover’s beauty will continue to exist, defying the ravages of time.
The final line, “he in them still green,” is a powerful affirmation of the life-giving quality of poetry. The word “green” here symbolizes vitality, youth, and growth. Despite the lover’s inevitable physical decline, the poem will keep his beauty forever “green,” preserving it in its written form.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 63 meditates on the inexorable passage of time, aging, and the decay of beauty. Through its elegant structure, poignant imagery, and philosophical exploration of memory and mortality, the sonnet offers both a lament and a solution. While Time may rob the body of its vigor, the poem itself becomes a means of preserving love and beauty in the face of inevitable decline. The power of the written word, in Shakespeare’s view, is that it can transcend time and keep beauty eternal, living on long after the lover has aged or passed away. In this way, the sonnet serves not only as a reflection on the fragility of life but also as a testament to the enduring power of art.
