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That Time of Year Thou May'st in Me Behold, Analyzed

            Title of Work: That time of year thou may'st in me behold.
            
             During William Shakespeare's That time of year thou may'st in me behold, life and its youthful passion faces depletion symbolized by an autumn day. A time in the author's life is observed when few yellow leaves or none at all because of the decaying breeze stripping the branches bare. The branches shiver against the cold, as in anticipation for something to come in the writer's eye. These same boughs are notably abandoned of the sweet sounding birds that earlier sang there. The author has this gloomy feeling of twilight within as the sun sets to the west and darkness quickly closes around the remaining light of the day, so too does death close around him. There are now only embers that lie upon the ashes remaining from the writer's flame of youth. His youth must die, consumed by that which once fed it. This is sensed and it makes love more determined to care more deeply that which must be given up before long.
             The main ideas and thoughts behind this poem include the destructive effects that time has on one's physical well-being and the mental hardships associated with moving further from youth and closer to death. Thinking of his own mortality, Shakespeare speaks of death, maybe not only literal death of the body but of the youth and passion once expressed. The author seems to stress the importance of youth because it doesn't last forever. It makes the reader ponder desires, passions, and aspirations that will be lost with age and time. .
             Throughout this poem there are many ways in which Shakespeare provides the reader with vivid pictures and clear understanding of what the meaning of the piece is. Symbolism is a major literary convention used consistently. For instance, the symbol of the tree, weathered on a cold, autumn day represents the writer and what he is experiencing. To picture this vision of a tree losing leaves, baring against a cold wind, and the loss of birds who once sang there is a definite sensory image that relates to the idea of death.


Essays Related to That Time of Year Thou May'st in Me Behold, Analyzed

1. Sonnet 73

Shakespeare states, "That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang." ... Shakespeare states, "In me thou see'st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest." ... Shakespeare states, "In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed ...

  • Word Count: 672
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Ashes to Ashes - Sonnet 73

The speaker fails to clarify which season he is originally referring to in the opening line for it only refers to That time of years thou maist in me behold (1). While the speaker mentions me, the word is followed after thou, lacking the detail that the speaker is placed within the first quatrain. However, the second and the third quatrain invert this by In me thou seest, (5 and 9) becoming more adamant and sophisticated beginning. ... But before the Fair Young Man mayst behold, (5) with another unclear, vague line, the speaker now definitely seest (5). ... Shakespeare repeats the In me thou s...

  • Word Count: 1254
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Samuel Daniel's Sonnet Thirty-Three

It tells of everlasting love, one that is faithful and loyal. ... Daniel writes in line six, "Though spent my flame, in me the heat remaining." ... He has loved her since he was a young man, which is said in line seven, "I that have loved thee thus before thou fadest." ... He explains this in lines nine and ten, when Daniel writes, "The world shall find this miracle in me/That fire can burn when all the matter's spent." ... He expresses this anger in lines twelve through fourteen when he says, "And that thou wast unkind thou mayst repent / Thou mayst repent that thou hast scorned my t...

  • Word Count: 615
  • Approx Pages: 2
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4. Homosexuality Is Not A Sin According To The Bible

Homosexuals, who have been intertwined into every culture since they beginning of time, have constantly been the receptor of violence, discrimination, and condemnation by conservative Christians, gay bashers, the media, mainstream evangelists, and, surprisingly, people who are gay (but are insecure in their sexuality). Instead of being embraced for their differences and respected as human beings, homosexuals have been, time and time again, condemned to hell, killed, or discriminated against. ... In this way, many people have a hard time believing that gays are, for the most part, loving, cap...

  • Word Count: 6914
  • Approx Pages: 28
  • Has Bibliography
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5. The Tempest

And Antonio replies, "True;/ And look how well my garment sit upon me,"" (2.1.257-59). ... He goes on to state that Prospero "tak'st from me- (3.2.46-49). ... There thou mayst brain him having first seized his books; or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, or cut his weasand with thy knife- (3.2.80-85). ... Magic (the supernatural) and Illusion entwined are dominant themes that shape the entire story and both have a profound effect on the events that take place. ... Prospero asks Ariel, "Hast thou, spirit, Performed to point the tempest that I bade thee?...

  • Word Count: 841
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6. Puns In Romeo And Juliet

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  • Word Count: 381
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Olivia in the Twelfth Night

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  • Word Count: 529
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8. Language in Shakespeare's Poem

As one of the greatest wordsmiths of all time, William Shakespeare made powerful use of imagery to convey the themes and subject matter in his poetry and plays. ... andThat Time Of Year Thou Mayest In Me Behold?. ... The images that these words put into our heads are very true to his idea that his woman means nothing compared to nature, one of the main points of his poem. ... These similes give us an idea of what he is trying to put across, that his mistress has no where near the same beauty that nature possesses and also show us he is trying to mock the style of his contemporaries? ... He...

  • Word Count: 445
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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