A brief Analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73

Shakespeare is really a great master who can use unique images to express his idea or thought.And he is hardly surpassed.

In the three-quatrain and one-couplet sonnet，William Shakespeare develops a kind of depressed imagery to create a situation of forthcoming death.Some very vivid and amazing images are used in each of the first three quatrains.In this sonnet，we can see that the speakers death is coming soon and he tells the listener to cherish their mutual love.

When I first look into this sonnet，I was astonished by its wonderful images.In the first quatrain，we can perceive a cold and isolated picture； especially the 2-4 lines can express such feeling to readers.In the second line，only from “yellow leaves” can we feel the bleakness，but that is not enough to the poet，he uses continuously three commas and three monosyllables to express the scarcity of leaves，and we as if can see those leaves“hang upon those boughs”（line 2-3） in little groups.In the third line，the use of “shake” （line 3） is very ingenious.The poet personifies those leaves and we as if can see that they are holding themselves strongly in the cold winter wind.Those leaves seem to be endowed a kind of extra vitality.Furthermore，if we perceive this quatrain as a whole，we can find that there is a contrast of time.Before，there are “sweet birds sang” （line 4），but now，there are just the dying-out boughs and the hanging yellow leaves.A sense of sight is used well in this quatrain to express the almost end of life.

Then the sense of sight continues in the second quatrain.Some words and phrases can catch readers eyes very quickly，such as “twilight，sunset，black night and death second self” （line 4-7）.All these words remind us of the end of things.The poet uses such images to express the forthcoming death and we can also feel such sad emotion.This kind of image makes us suffocating.However，it seems that the poet does not notice such effect.He continues his depressive image in the third quatrain.There lies a fire on the ashes of his youth doth.Can you imagine that image？ A fire is going to quench but the small flame still struggles to exist strongly.This struggle reminds us of a dying person.The fire is just like the light in his eyes.He is dying，but he still tries his best to stay in the secular world.But gradually and finally，light in his eyes will disappear.

In the couplet，Shakespeare finally puts forward the theme of this sonnet.In this sonnet，the speaker says that if the listener can perceive the above three images in his daily life，he will love things that are going to disappear in near future more than he did in the past.The speaker is asking the listener to cherish their mutual and short-time love.In short，the theme is that the lovers knowledge that they must die makes their love stronger.

As a whole，William Shakespeare establishes a great impact to readers in aspect of sight and feeling by using those three wonderful images.From the structural perspective，Shakespeare uses a rhetorical device--parallelism.He continuously uses three “in me” （line 1，5，9） in the first line of each quatrain to connect the three images and enforce the power of these images.Of course，even if we do not consider the parallelism，we can find out the similarity of the three images that is the end of things.

I wonder that which images used in the poem are better？ Image in the latter poem is very similar with that in the first quatrain of sonnet 73.In my first impression，Cummingss poem is so ingenious and wonderful because we can almost catch theme from the perspective of form and the simple image.But later，I find out that，unlike Shakespeare，his poem just provides readers a short-term shock because the image is so direct and obvious.But，Shakespeares image gives readers more space to imagine and to construct the image in mind.So Shakespeare is really a great master.

Reference：

[1]Aristotle.On Rhetoric.Trans.George A.Kennedy.New York：Oxford University Press，2007.

[2]Brooks，Cleanth，and Robert Penn Warren.Modern Rhetoric.New York：Harcourt，Brace and Company，INC，1949.

[3]Kirszner & Mandell.Literature：Reading，Reacting and Writing.Beijing：Beijing University Press，2006.

[4]Richards，Ivor Armstrong.The Philosophy of Rhetoric.New York：Oxford University Press，1965.

[5]李明強译注.莎士比亚十四行诗.昆明：云南大学出版社，2008.

作者简介：

穆艳芳（1989- ），女，汉，云南大理人，12级研究生在读，云南大学外国语学院，研究方向：英美文学。