William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 123 is a part of the Fair Youth sequence, a group of sonnets dedicated to a young man of extraordinary beauty and virtue. In this sonnet, Shakespeare addresses Time and challenges its power, emphasizing the transient nature of life, the futility of its force, and the poet’s commitment to remaining true in the face of time’s inevitable passage. The structure of the poem adheres to the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form: it consists of 14 lines, written in iambic pentameter, with a rhyming scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGG. This rigid structure contrasts with the fluidity of the poem’s themes, such as defiance against time and mortality.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 123
No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change.
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.
Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.
Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wond’ring at the present nor the past;
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste.
This I do vow, and this shall ever be:
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.
The Structure and Tone of Sonnet 123
The tone of Sonnet 123 is defiant and resolute. The speaker confronts Time directly, rejecting its supposed power to affect or change him. The use of words like “defy” and “vow” suggests a strong emotional resistance to Time, symbolized through the image of a scythe—a traditional representation of death and time’s inevitable reaping. There is an undertone of frustration with the way Time distorts the past, manipulating records and memories, yet the speaker remains firm in his resolve. The overall mood is one of rejection of time’s authority, a bold assertion of the speaker’s commitment to truth despite time’s power.
The structure of the poem plays a crucial role in reinforcing its argument. The 14-line sonnet is neatly divided into three quatrains and a concluding couplet. Each quatrain develops an argument against Time’s control, while the final couplet offers a resolution—one that asserts the speaker’s commitment to truth.
Analysis of Sonnet 123
Lines 1–4
“No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change.
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight.”
In the first quatrain, the speaker immediately confronts Time, rejecting its boastful assertion that it can make him change. Time is personified here as a powerful force, symbolized by “pyramids”—huge, monumental structures that represent the passage of time and the civilizations that rise and fall. These pyramids, in the speaker’s view, are not something new or startling; they are merely “dressings of a former sight,” suggesting that all things in time are cyclical and repetitive. This highlights the speaker’s belief that the passage of time, with its apparent changes, is not novel but simply a reworking of previous cycles.
The phrase “nothing novel, nothing strange” also reveals a sense of weariness, as if the speaker is tired of Time’s pretensions. The repetition of “nothing” emphasizes the lack of originality in Time’s claims, reinforcing the argument that Time’s powers are neither new nor as grand as they are made out to be.
Lines 5–8
“Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,
And rather make them born to our desire
Than think that we before have heard them told.”
In the second quatrain, the speaker reflects on the brevity of human life, noting that “our dates are brief.” The shortness of life leads people to admire the old as something novel and desirable, despite its familiarity. The phrase “foist upon us” suggests that Time forces its antiquity upon humanity, but instead of recognizing its repetition, humans tend to mold it to their own desires. Rather than acknowledging that the old things have been seen before, people choose to accept them as new and fresh.
The speaker critiques this tendency to romanticize the past and glorify what is old by suggesting that people “make them born to our desire,” implying that nostalgia and desire can blind people to the true nature of Time. This is an interesting comment on human nature—how people often fail to see the cyclical and repetitive nature of life, instead perceiving it as always new and exciting.
Lines 9–12
“Thy registers and thee I both defy,
Not wond’ring at the present nor the past;
For thy records and what we see doth lie,
Made more or less by thy continual haste.”
The third quatrain sees the speaker actively defying Time and its “registers,” or records of history. The registers are symbolic of time’s attempts to record and preserve the past, but the speaker asserts that both Time itself and its records are unreliable, “doth lie.” Time’s rush to record everything and its constant haste distort reality. The speaker does not wonder at the present or the past because both are clouded by Time’s distortion.
The “continual haste” of Time suggests that its rapid passage blurs the true nature of events, making them either exaggerated or minimized, depending on Time’s influence. The notion of “lie” here implies that what we perceive as history or truth is a warped version, influenced by Time’s relentless movement.
Lines 13–14
“This I do vow, and this shall ever be:
I will be true despite thy scythe and thee.”
The final couplet offers a resolution to the poem. The speaker vows to remain true, asserting that despite the inevitable decay and destruction represented by Time’s “scythe” (the symbol of death), he will not be swayed. This vow underscores the central theme of the sonnet: a commitment to truth and constancy, even in the face of the relentless passage of time. The speaker’s steadfastness contrasts with Time’s uncontrollable, often destructive power.
This closing declaration serves as a final defiance against Time’s control, reaffirming the speaker’s belief that, in the end, truth and authenticity transcend the superficial power of Time.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 123 offers a profound meditation on the power and limitations of Time. The poem begins with a rejection of Time’s boasts and its supposed ability to bring about change, emphasizing the cyclical and repetitive nature of life. As the poem progresses, the speaker critiques humanity’s tendency to glorify the past and accept Time’s false narratives. In the final couplet, the speaker asserts an unshakable commitment to truth, defying Time’s destructive force.
Through this sonnet, Shakespeare explores themes of mortality, memory, and the tension between change and constancy. The poem’s structure, with its controlled form and sharp shifts in argument, mirrors the tension between the inevitable passage of time and the speaker’s resolute defiance.
