Shakespeare's+Sonnet+55+detailed+analysis

//Not marble, nor the gilded monuments// //Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;// //But you shall shine more bright in these contents// //Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.// //When wasteful war shall statues overturn,// //And broils root out the work of masonry,// //Nor Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn// //The living record of your memory.// //'Gainst death, and all oblivious enmity// //Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room// //Even in the eyes of all posterity// //That wear this world out to the ending doom.// //So, till the judgment that yourself arise,// //You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.//

http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/55

This poem portrays the theme of how time destroys things in the physical world, which was a common theme in Shakespeare's sonnet sequence. In this poem, Shakespeare is continuing to urge the attractive young man to reproduce so that his physical beauty will be carried throughout his heirs. Throughout the poem, he provides specific images of physical things that will lose their beauty over time. For example, in line 4, Shakespeare is saying that the young man's memory will shine brighter than stone because time will degrade the shining quality of stones and precious metals.

- “Not marble” & “gilded monuments” = earthly thins that won’t last forever, compared to poetry - Talking about - “Than unswept stone” = comparing to earthly things - Everything else will be destroyed by time, war & oblivion” - Line 5: “Wasteful war shall statues overturn” = mentioning war - Line 5-8: talking about how war destroys solid things, but not “the living record of your memory” - line 4: “sluttish time” = time moves slowly; stone is not cleaned - line 9: “all-oblivious enmity” = hatred of being forgotten - “…shall you pace forth” = thru reproduction, he’ll being immortalized, he won’t be forgotten when he dies - line 11 = he’ll be praised forever if he reproduces; he’s trying to convince him to reproduce, giving him incentives of being remembered as a hero - “ending doom” = Judgment Day, third coming of Christ - line 13: he’s no longer w/ the dead b/c everyone is dead - “You live in this” = you live in the beauty of those who will follow you in future generations - This poems discusses how time destroys and degrades things in the physical world
 * o Memory = eternal, won’t be destroyed by war or by anything
 * o His memory will shine brighter than stone, b/c time will degrade the physical shining quality of stone and precious metals
 * o “statues” & “work of masonry” = specific images of physical things that will lose their beauty over time

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