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The Effects Of Time In Shakespeare's Sonnets

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Bergson, Proust, and Shakespeare explore the effects of time on writers and each author notices that time deprecates not only themselves, as they grow toward death, but also various factors around them. Bergson understands time as an unavoidable essence that causes deaths, which persuades people to absorb knowledge to pass onto future generations. Proust views time as a factor that deprecates a hidden factor within him as he uses time in an example of the deprecation of satisfaction drinking tea. Shakespeare fears the ravages of time as his early sonnets focus on the negative repercussions of time, yet he finally ends up accepting them in his later sonnets. Each writer recognizes the tolls of time and effectively acts in order to experience …show more content…

In William Shakespeare 's Sonnets, he often speaks of the ravages of time to beauty, nature, and life and the fear and acceptance as he recognizes that time moving forward is natural. In Sonnet 19, Shakespeare describes time affecting animals and a mythical beast, which a writer does not normally notice day to day: "Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion 's paws, / And make the earth devour her own sweet brood; / Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger 's jaws, / And burn the long-liv 'd Phoenix in her blood;" (Shakespeare). Most do not usually experience the effects of time on nature; they only know from pictures. The use of the phoenix in these lines, a mythical creature that lives forever, demonstrates that time will always find a way to erode. Despite the fact that a phoenix can resurrect itself after death, it cannot escape time. The phrase "in her blood" translates into "prime of life", which further shows that the eternal life of a phoenix is damaged once it leaves its "prime of life". In Sonnet 3, Shakespeare reflects on mortality, specifically using one 's children to recreate the image of the speaker: "So thou through windows of thine age shall see / Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time. / But if thou live, remember 'd not to be, / Die single, and thine image dies with thee" (Shakespeare). In this sonnet, Shakespeare speaks of what one has to be remembered by after death. The consequence of dying without a child is being removed from memory. As a single man, a child is the only way to keep and carry on the image of one 's self, mainly physically. In the end, Shakespeare learns to accept death. In Sonnet 60, Shakespeare again speaks on mortality and compares it to the natural forward movement of waves onto a shore: "And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. / Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth / And delves the parallels in beauty 's brow, / Feeds on the rarities of nature 's truth," (Shakespeare). Sonnet 60 meditates on mortality.

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