SONNET 73 – William Shakespeare
,• William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright,
and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
• His birthday was never recorded but is celebrated on 23 April (he
was baptized on 26 April). Babies were baptized as soon a
possible after birth.
• 23 April was also the date he died in 1616.
• Shakespeare’s legacy is as rich and diverse as his work; his
plays have had an enduring presence on stage and film.
• William Shakespeare continues to be one of the most important
literary figures of the English language.
,• Shakespeare’s sonnets (154 of them) were composed between 1593 and 1601,
though not published until 1609.
• The sonnets fall into two groups: sonnets 1-126, addressed to a beloved friend, a
handsome and noble young man, presumably the author’s patron, the Earl of
Southampton; and sonnets 127-152 dedicated to a malignant but fascinating Dark
Lady, who the poet loves in spite of himself.
• References to old age are plenty in Shakespeare’s works. This sonnet is the third of
four poems concerned with aging (Sonnets 71-74).
• Many critics read the poem literally as one intended to be ‘spoken’ by an older person
to someone much younger.
• In his sonnets Shakespeare consistently employs the personal pronouns you, your,
yours in the formal sense, while the older forms: thou and thee (you) and thy (your)
are used in very close relationships.
, Sonnet 73
1 That time of year thou mayst in me behold A
2 When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang B
3 Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, A
4 Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. B
5 In me thou seest the twilight of such day C
6 As after sunset fadeth in the west, D
7 Which by and by black night doth take away, C
8 Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. D
9 In me thou seest the glowing of such fire E
10 That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, F
11 As the deathbed whereon it must expire, E
12 Consumed with that which it was nourished by. F
13 This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, G
14 To love that well which thou must leave ere long. G
,• William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright,
and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
• His birthday was never recorded but is celebrated on 23 April (he
was baptized on 26 April). Babies were baptized as soon a
possible after birth.
• 23 April was also the date he died in 1616.
• Shakespeare’s legacy is as rich and diverse as his work; his
plays have had an enduring presence on stage and film.
• William Shakespeare continues to be one of the most important
literary figures of the English language.
,• Shakespeare’s sonnets (154 of them) were composed between 1593 and 1601,
though not published until 1609.
• The sonnets fall into two groups: sonnets 1-126, addressed to a beloved friend, a
handsome and noble young man, presumably the author’s patron, the Earl of
Southampton; and sonnets 127-152 dedicated to a malignant but fascinating Dark
Lady, who the poet loves in spite of himself.
• References to old age are plenty in Shakespeare’s works. This sonnet is the third of
four poems concerned with aging (Sonnets 71-74).
• Many critics read the poem literally as one intended to be ‘spoken’ by an older person
to someone much younger.
• In his sonnets Shakespeare consistently employs the personal pronouns you, your,
yours in the formal sense, while the older forms: thou and thee (you) and thy (your)
are used in very close relationships.
, Sonnet 73
1 That time of year thou mayst in me behold A
2 When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang B
3 Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, A
4 Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. B
5 In me thou seest the twilight of such day C
6 As after sunset fadeth in the west, D
7 Which by and by black night doth take away, C
8 Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. D
9 In me thou seest the glowing of such fire E
10 That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, F
11 As the deathbed whereon it must expire, E
12 Consumed with that which it was nourished by. F
13 This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, G
14 To love that well which thou must leave ere long. G
