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. Sonnet 12 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. When I do count the clock that tells the time, 02. And see the brave day sunk in hideous night; 03. When I behold the violet past prime, 04. And sable curls or silvered o'er with white: 05. When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, 06. Which erst from heat did canopy the herd 07. And summer's green all girded up in sheaves 08. Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard: 09. Then of thy beauty do I question make 10. That thou among the wastes of time must go, 11. Since sweets and beauties do them-selves forsake, 12. And die as fast as they see others grow, 13. And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence 14. Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence. |
. Sonnet 12 . (paraphrased) 01. When I give heed to the clock that tells the time, of life, 02. And I see the splendid sun "buried" in hideous night, 03. When I see flowers past their prime, 04. And hair which is brunette otherwise, silvered over with white, 05. When I see lofty trees barren of leaves, 06. That earlier shaded the crowd from the summer heat, 07. And I see the summer crops all gathered up in sheaves, 08. Borne away on a litter, with their bristly white beards, 09. Then I'm inspired to make a topic of your beauty, 10. Realizing that someday you must go into the wasteland of death, 11. Since flowers, and all beautiful things, do give themselves up, 12. And die as steadily, and quickly, as they see others appear, 13. And nothing can defend against the Grim Reaper, 14. Except living offspring, to outface him, when he takes you away. |
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Sonnet 12 Gloss
L1: do count = give heed to. L1: count - (Note, to the right.) L1: time - Time of day, and by analogy, the time of life. A 24-hour period is likened to a lifetime. L2: brave = boldly bright, 'splendid.' Can be read 'sunny' - there's an implicit "son" pun. L2: sunk = buried (a death allusion.) (Note, to the right.) L2: hideous = fearful. (Note, to the right.) L3: violet - Used as an exemplar for 'flower.' L4: sable = brunette; dark. "Sable" in this usage suggests black, but doesn't necessarily mean exactly black. L4: or = otherwise. (Note, to the right.) L5: lofty = tall. But suggesting 'noble,' exalted' and complimentary to the addressee. There is a change in the Sonnet, that now a year is being likened to a lifetime, where at first it was a day. Trees lose their leaves in the course of a year. L6: erst = formerly; at an earlier time. L6: canopy = shade. Secondarily, 'ornament.' It suggests the addressee as an "ornament" high above the common herd. L6: herd = crowd (in human terms.) L7: summer's green - Reference to a crop, of the cereal type from a grassy plant. "Summer's green" has analogy to the prime of a person's life. L8: Borne on the bier = carried off on a litter. (Note, to the right.) L8: bristly beard - (Note, to the right.) L9: question = argument; a theme, a topic. L10: wastes = unpopulated areas. Death is a place where there is "nobody living." L11: sweets = flowers. (Note, to the right.) L11: beauties = beautiful things in general. L11: forsake = relinquish; give up. L12: fast = steadily and speedily. (Double meaning.) L13: Time's scythe - Of death. (Reference to the Grim Reaper.) L14: brave (him) = face (him) fearlessly; defy (him.) "Outface" might be best, because of the "beauty" theme in this Sonnet group, and beauty being most associated with the face. |
Sonnet 12 Notes
L1: count There's reference to a clock that strikes the hours, so one must count the chimes to know what hour it is. Secondarily, "count" can be understood as "reckon," or "attend to," in the sense of "observe." The best equivalent might be "heed." We attend to things that are important, things that "count." There is nice wordplay in the line, since "tell" can also mean "count." L2: sunk = buried (a death allusion.) The sun is the characteristic of the day. Therefore, "day sunk" implies "son buried." Hamnet Shakespeare died in 1596. There is a subtle hint of Shakespeare recalling the death of his son. It implies William Herbert as the addressee of the first 17 Sonnets, a date of 1597, and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess Pembroke, as the patron. L2: hideous = fearful. The word appearance suggests "that which hides." The hideous night of death will "hide" the beauty of life. The "hide-" in "hideous" makes it compatible with "sunk." L4: or = otherwise. "Or" has generally been presumed a misprint, but it is not. Any good dictionary will show "otherwise" as a definition of "or." The phrase "or silvered o'er" was written that way for poetic wordplay, repeating the "or" sound, and it means "otherwise, silvered over." For modern punctuation of the original, one merely adds a comma after "or." If you see a modern reprint of Sonnet 12 that doesn't have the word "or" in line 4, it's wrong. L8: Borne on the bier = carried off on a litter. In the case of crops, they're carried away to be eventually consumed. There's analogy to a funeral. In reference to harvest, "bier" is read as "barrow." "Bier" and "barrow" are from the same ultimate root. The harvest barrow would not be a wheelbarrow in those days, rather a stretcher or litter type frame, with handles on both ends, carried by two men. (Incidentally, a path through a field is, or once was, called a "bier-balk." In some references you might find the absurd interpretation that a "bier-balk" is a path left open for funeral processions through a field. Actually, it's a path for harvesters to follow so they don't trample the unharvested plants.) L8: bristly beard Various crop plants have a structure, an "awn," that can be called a beard. The plants are notably wheat, rye, and barley, but the awn is typical of grasses, in general. There's analogy to the human beard of an old man. L11: sweets = flowers. See Hamlet Scene 19 (Act 5 scene 1.) ~=~ Gertrude: Sweets to the sweet, farewell; ... I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, And not have strewed thy grave. =~=~= |
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