Time in Shakespeare's Sonnets

The Use of Time in Shakespeare’s Sonnets Shakespeare’s Sonnets are provocative and emotional reflections on intimate relationships possibly inspired by lovers from the early part of Shakespeare’s career, the same time during which Romeo and Juliet was composed. Through the use of personification, Shakespeare confronts the natural processes which create and destroy life, especially concentrating on the vigorous beauty of creation in its prime, “When I consider every thing that grows/ Holds …

…verses’ meanings, thus preserving and immortalizing youth in contradiction to the tendencies of the elements: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (Sonnet 18, 14-15). Through personification, he demonstrates qualities of authority in his use of Time who sometimes is displayed as the ultimate supernatural force, and seeks through language to challenge this by preserving his love forever within the Sonnets. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**