Shakespeare‘s Sonnet 100 is a deeply reflective poem, where the speaker grapples with a loss of inspiration and seeks to rekindle the muse’s creative power to immortalize his beloved. Like many of Shakespeare’s sonnets, it explores the themes of time, beauty, and the relationship between art and life. The sonnet, written in the traditional English sonnet form of 14 lines, is structured as three quatrains followed by a rhymed couplet. It adheres to the iambic pentameter meter, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Through this structure and careful use of language, Shakespeare highlights both the fragility of time and the enduring nature of love when immortalized in poetry.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 100
Where art thou, muse, that thou forget’st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend’st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Dark’ning thy power to lend base subjects light?
Return, forgetful muse, and straight redeem
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Rise, resty muse; my love’s sweet face survey
If Time have any wrinkle graven there.
If any, be a satire to decay
And make Time’s spoils despisèd everywhere.
Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life;
So thou prevent’st his scythe and crookèd knife.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 100
The overall structure of Sonnet 100 reflects a journey of frustration, pleading, and hope. The first eight lines are characterized by a sense of dissatisfaction with the muse’s absence and a yearning to regain creative vitality. This frustration peaks in the third quatrain, where Shakespeare directly appeals to the muse to remedy time’s ravages. The final rhymed couplet resolves the tension with a resolution for the beloved to be preserved faster than time can destroy.
The tone of the sonnet shifts throughout. It begins with a tone of mild frustration, addressing the muse for neglecting to inspire the poet. This frustration transforms into a more pleading and desperate tone, where the speaker entreats the muse to redeem the wasted time. However, by the end of the sonnet, the tone becomes one of determined urgency, expressing the desire to fight against the decay of time by ensuring that the beloved is immortalized through poetry.
Analysis of Sonnet 100
Lines 1-4
“Where art thou, muse, that thou forget’st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend’st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Dark’ning thy power to lend base subjects light?”
In the opening quatrain, the speaker expresses frustration over the absence of his muse, accusing it of neglecting its role in inspiring him to write about the beloved. The phrase “forget’st so long” indicates a prolonged period of creative silence, which causes the poet to feel disconnected from his source of inspiration. The second line further emphasizes the muse’s importance by reminding it that its power comes from writing about noble subjects, which presumably includes the speaker’s beloved. Lines three and four illustrate the poet’s frustration with the idea that the muse may have spent its energy on “worthless” subjects that do not deserve its power. The term “worthless song” and “base subjects” imply that the muse has been diverted to trivial matters, thus weakening its ability to elevate more significant themes, like the beauty of the poet’s love. The speaker feels the muse’s potential is being squandered.
Lines 5-8
“Return, forgetful muse, and straight redeem
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.”
The speaker calls for the muse to return, urging it to “redeem” the time that has been wasted in creative inertia. The phrase “gentle numbers” refers to the calming, melodic quality of poetry, suggesting that the speaker desires a return to a more refined and eloquent form of writing. “Time so idly spent” refers to the period of creative neglect, with the speaker urging the muse to make up for that lost time. The line “Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem” emphasizes that the muse’s poetry should be directed to an appreciative audience—one that values the beauty of poetry and the skill of the poet. The word “esteem” elevates the idea that the muse’s poetry should be valued highly, adding an air of reverence to the muse’s art. The phrase “gives thy pen both skill and argument” suggests that, through the muse’s return, the poet will once again find both the technical skill and the thematic purpose (the “argument”) needed to craft a meaningful poem. In this way, the speaker anticipates that the muse’s return will not only restore the lost time but also infuse the poetry with both artistic grace and intellectual depth.
Lines 9-12
“Rise, resty muse; my love’s sweet face survey
If Time have any wrinkle graven there.
If any, be a satire to decay
And make Time’s spoils despisèd everywhere.”
In this quatrain, the speaker directly addresses the muse, calling it to “rise” and take a fresh look at the beloved’s face, which has not yet been tarnished by time. The speaker urges the muse to observe whether “Time have any wrinkle graven there”—in other words, whether the beloved’s beauty has been affected by aging. The idea of wrinkles as symbols of decay is common in Shakespeare’s work, representing the inevitable deterioration of beauty. The speaker hopes that if any sign of age is present, it will serve as a “satire to decay,” mocking the ravages of time and reminding the world that beauty, even as it fades, remains worthy of admiration. The desire to “make Time’s spoils despisèd everywhere” reflects a common theme in Shakespeare’s sonnets: the wish to overcome the destruction wrought by time, especially through the preservation of beauty in poetry.
Lines 13-14
“Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life;
So thou prevent’st his scythe and crookèd knife.”
In the final couplet, the speaker makes a desperate plea for the muse to help his love achieve fame more quickly than time can erode life. The metaphor of “Time’s scythe and crookèd knife” evokes the image of death and decay, with Time personified as a harvester that cuts down all things. The speaker asks the muse to grant his beloved a swift immortality through fame, one that outpaces time’s destructive power. The idea of fame “preventing” Time’s scythe is central to the sonnet’s theme of using poetry to immortalize the beauty and virtue of the beloved, offering a form of resistance against the ravages of time and aging.
Conclusion
Sonnet 100 is a powerful meditation on the relationship between time, beauty, and poetry. Shakespeare uses the figure of the muse not only as a source of inspiration but also as a vehicle for defying time’s inevitable effects on the beloved’s beauty. Through the structure of the sonnet, the speaker transitions from frustration to hope, seeking to restore the power of poetry in the face of time’s destructive force. The sonnet underscores the enduring belief in the power of art to preserve what time seeks to destroy—through the written word, the poet’s love is immortalized. The careful interweaving of time, beauty, and artistic power makes this sonnet a testament to Shakespeare’s mastery of both poetic form and philosophical reflection.
