Sonnet 73 Flashcards
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Sonnet 73
What image does the speaker use in the first quatrain to describe his aging?
Late autumn, when yellow leaves or none hang on branches that shake against the cold, compared to bare ruined choirs where birds once sang.
What image does the second quatrain use to represent the speaker's declining life?
Twilight fading into black night after sunset, with night described as Death's second self that seals up all in rest.
What happens to the fire in the third quatrain?
The fire's last glow lies on the ashes of its youth and is consumed by the very fuel that once nourished it, representing life extinguished by its own spent energy.
What conclusion does the final couplet draw from the three preceding metaphors?
The beloved perceives the speaker's decline, and this awareness makes the beloved's love stronger because their time together is limited.
Who is the Fair Youth in Shakespeare's sonnet sequence?
The Fair Youth is the unnamed young man addressed in Sonnets 1-126. Scholars have proposed Henry Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton) and William Herbert (Earl of Pembroke) as candidates.
What is the relationship between the speaker and the person addressed in Sonnet 73?
The speaker is an older figure confessing his mortality to a younger beloved (the Fair Youth), trusting that honesty about his decline will deepen rather than diminish their bond.
How does Sonnet 73 present the relationship between mortality and love?
The poem argues that awareness of death intensifies love. The beloved's knowledge that the speaker will die makes their love more strong, not weaker.
What does the narrowing time scale across the three quatrains suggest about the speaker's view of death?
By shrinking from a season to a day to a fire's final moments, the speaker conveys mounting urgency and the accelerating approach of death as one ages.
How does Sonnet 73 treat the theme of the passage of time?
Time is presented as irreversible and linear. Although autumn, twilight, and fire are naturally cyclical, the speaker presents them as one-way journeys toward an end, with no hint of renewal.
What role does acceptance play in Sonnet 73?
The speaker does not fight or lament his aging but observes it with calm, meditative honesty. This quiet acceptance transforms vulnerability into emotional strength and deepens the beloved's devotion.
What type of figurative language dominates each quatrain of Sonnet 73?
Extended metaphor. Each quatrain sustains a single metaphor for the speaker's aging: autumn (quatrain 1), twilight (quatrain 2), and a dying fire (quatrain 3).
Identify the personification in line 8: 'Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.'
Night is personified as Death's second self, an active agent that seals up everything in rest, transforming darkness from a natural phenomenon into a figure of finality.
What paradox appears in the line 'Consumed with that which it was nourished by'?
The fire is destroyed by the same fuel that once sustained it. The ashes of burned wood smother the remaining embers, mirroring how the energy of youth eventually exhausts the aging body.
What is the rhyme scheme and form of Sonnet 73?
It follows the Shakespearean (English) sonnet form: three quatrains and a couplet, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, written in iambic pentameter.
How does Shakespeare use alliteration in Sonnet 73 to reinforce tone?
Repeated 's' sounds in phrases like 'sweet birds sang' and 'Death's second self, that seals' create a hushed, solemn music that mirrors the poem's meditative tone.
What does 'ere' mean in the line 'which thou must leave ere long'?
Ere means 'before.' The line means the beloved must leave (part with the speaker, or leave life itself) before long.
What does 'fadeth' mean in 'As after sunset fadeth in the west'?
Fadeth is the archaic third-person singular form of 'fades.' It describes the twilight gradually disappearing after sunset.
What does 'perceiv'st' mean in the final couplet?
Perceiv'st is a contracted form of 'perceivest,' meaning 'you perceive' or 'you see and understand.' The speaker says the beloved comprehends his decline.
Complete the line: 'Bare ruined choirs, where late ___.'
The sweet birds sang. The full line compares bare tree branches to empty church choir lofts where birds (or choristers) once sang.
Complete the couplet: 'This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, / ___.'
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long. The couplet argues that recognizing mortality makes love more intense and precious.
What line in Sonnet 73 personifies night as a form of death?
Line 8: 'Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.' Night is called Death's double, an agent that closes everything in final stillness.