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. Sonnet 60 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, 02. So do our minutes hasten to their end, 03. Each changing place with that which goes before, 04. In sequent toil all forwards do contend. 05. Nativity once in the main of light, 06. Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd, 07. Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight, 08. And time that gave, doth now his gift confound. 09. Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth, 10. And delves the parallels in beauty's brow, 11. Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, 12. And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow. 13. And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand 14. Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. |
. Sonnet 60 . (paraphrased) 01. The same as the waves on the ocean move towards the pebbly shore, 02. So does our time of living go by (too rapidly,) minute by minute, towards our death; 03. Each wave (or minute) replacing that which went before, 04. One after another, it's like they're all struggling to fight their way forward. 05. A baby after being born, and once in the "ocean" of life, under the sun, 06. Grows "crawling" to youthful maturity, and when that has been achieved, 07. He faces a battle against his glory, like the sun being slowly eclipsed by the curved arc of the moon, 08. And the same way time gave him his youthful maturity, it now starts taking that gift away, by making him old, 09. Time cuts away the bloom of youth, like cutting a flower, 10. And Time "digs" lines in the face of beauty, 11. It eats up the valuable things of the living world's reality, 12. And every living thing "stands" only for the Grim Reaper's scythe to mow down. 13. And yet, for the future, I hope, my verse shall survive, 14. Praising your worth, despite the cruel hand of Time. |
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Sonnet 60 Gloss
L1: pebbled = stony. (Note, to the right.) L2: hasten = go by too rapidly. L3: changing place with = taking the place of; replacing. L4: sequent = successive; one after another. L4: toil = labor. L4: contend = struggle. L5: nativity = a baby after being born. L5: main = ocean. (Note, to the right.) L5: light = life (under the sun.) There's a way in which light is life. L6: Crawls = slowly advances; gradually grows. L6: crown'd - It's the idea of growing up being a "royal" achievement. L7: Crooked = curved. (Note, to the right.) L8: confound = overthrow. (Note, to the right.) L9: transfix = pierce; sever; cut through. (Note, to the right.) L9: flourish = bloom. (Note, to the right.) L10: delves = digs. L10: parallels = lines (in the skin, due to aging.) It's reference to the roughly parallel lines that appear in the skin as one ages. L11: Feeds on = consumes; eats up. L11: rarities = valuables (in human terms of beauty.) L11: nature's = the living world's. "Nature" is the world of the living. L11: truth = reality. L12: stands - (Note, to the right.) L12: his = the Grim Reaper's. L13: times = the future. L13: in hope = I hope. L13: stand = survive. L14: hand - The hand of the Grim Reaper, wielding the scythe. |
Sonnet 60 Notes
L1: pebbled = stony. The Poet may have used the idea of a stony beach because people like sandy beaches, however, liking the beach is not the idea here. This shore is not supposed to be one people would think of with a smile. L5: main = ocean. The figure of speech links back to "waves" in line 1. It casts a baby as being like a wave on the wide ocean of life. L7: Crooked = curved. Sonnet 100 speaks of Time's "crooked knife," meaning the Grim Reaper's curved sickle. Then, the edge of the moon, seen against the sun during an eclipse, is curved. An analogy is made between an eclipse, and death. L8: confound = overthrow. First, Time "crowns" a person for his "royal" achievement of youthful maturity, but then immediately starts trying to overthrow, with age, the "king" he just "crowned." L9: transfix = pierce; sever; cut through. The idea is of using a knife to cut a flower blossom from the plant. The stem must be pierced through, severed, to do that. L9: flourish = bloom. The idea in line 9 is of Time's sickle harvesting the "bloom of youth" as a person ages. L12: stands Crops grow so that they stand in the field, before harvest; also, humans stand, before being cut down by age. There's analogy between men harvesting a crop, and the Grim Reaper harvesting men, so to speak. |
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