The passage of time is something we all consider inevitable. Ultimately, in time, all things will fade away; particularly as noted in the twelfth sonnet of Beauty, but also that all human beings die sooner or later. Shakespeare's twelfth sonnet seeks to explore the question of time surpassing all and beauty fading. He does this through the eyes of the speaker, talking about a person who is his lover or a close friend. In the sonnet, Shakespeare provides us with a wide variety of cues to tell us what the speaker is talking about and what his feelings are. Throughout almost the entire sonnet the speaker tries to address the issues of time and its power. At the end of the sonnet the speaker experiences a revelation about what is important to do and pass on in the limited time we have before we die. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Shakespeare's twelfth sonnet, we see through the use of description, rhythm, meter, and revelation, the speaker's understanding of the passage of time, and why reproduction should be the ultimate goal and importance in our life. Shakespeare in his twelfth sonnet uses the speaker's description of the passage of time to convey what he thinks is important or unimportant and fades over time. The first two quatrains of the sonnet are essentially dedicated to describing the passage of time in inanimate things. When the first line of the sonnet states “When I count the clock that tells the time,” we know that this is an important setup for the next 7 lines of the sonnet as it tells the audience that the speaker is talking about time. The meaning of the lines is essentially what the speaker says when he sees time pass, allowing the reader to understand what he is talking about. Another important thing to note here is the use of the word “when” which drastically changes the feeling and perspective of the poem. The use of when makes it seem habitual, almost as if the author continually follows the pattern of noticing changes in everyday life. This gives the sense that the speaker is very knowledgeable, or wise, and has seen these changes for many years. This makes the speaker's point of view more important, almost as if the speaker must be right in solving the problem, as the speaker has continually witnessed these changes year after year, almost like an observer. This is indeed demonstrated by the use of “when” which leads to the moment the speaker states “then” to begin line 9, showing that the speaker has come to conclusions and understandings after all the time spent watching the decay all around. The next seven lines all increase in length, as the speaker talks about seeing time overtake things, seeing them die. The speaker begins by talking about a day fading into night; then moves on to the image of a violet turning white and dying after spring stating "When I see the violet passed, / And the sable locks all silvered with white." Here the speaker provides the image of a withering flower, but the next line is what is really important. In the next line the speaker compares “sable locks,” like a person's hair that turns gray in old age, to a withering flower. This is the first time we see the speaker actually talk about time affecting humans, essentially stating that humans wither and eventually die just like a violet. The speaker then uses the metaphor of a tree to convey the transition of the entire warm season to the winter season, saying "When tall trees I see barren of leaves/ Which before from the heat covered the herd." This is an even longer period than spring. Shakespeare also uses the summer-ending states when the speaker comments "And summer's green all girdled in sheaves / Brought upon the coffin with a white, wiry beard,” showing the end of summer, and then a picture of crops dying over the winter. We can deduce this because in this line “borne” means carried, and coffin means a movable structure where generally a body is brought after death, but here it is used with crops. This could be seen as a very shocking line, the author equates human death with the death of crops. speaker essentially shows his opinion that something that would normally carry a person as a means of respect after death could carry crops This would mean that the speaker believes there is very little difference between the death of humans and the death of crops, proving this through the placement of dead crops in the same place as man after death. The speaker's understanding of time is a very interesting one, one that leads him to a revelation later in the sonnet. Analysis of the revelation is best left until the end, however the description is a crucial part of understanding the speaker's view of time and the fact that all things fade away with time. A small but important part of Shakespeare's twelfth sonnet is the shift in rhythm and meter that Shakespeare uses to convey the changes in the sonnet. There is only one singular instance of change in the meter of the sonnet; however it is of fundamental importance to understand the sonnet. The eighth and ninth lines of the sonnet: "Brought to the coffin with a white, shaggy beard, / Then of your beauty I ask questions," have a shift in meter. Every other line of the sonnet is normal, regular iambic pentameter; what Shakespeare always uses, but here there is a change. A reader who has had a lot of experience with Shakespeare might now realize that this only happens when Shakespeare wants us to take note of something important. These two lines do something different: they begin with trochee; a long or stressed syllable, followed by a shorter or unstressed one. This is crucial because it signals a change. Throughout the sonnet the speaker of the sonnet spoke only of inanimate things and nature. Even though the speaker implied that they are talking about people fading away and dying just like anything in nature, the speaker never overtly talks about humans in any direct way without implications. The change in meter changes the context of the sonnet so we know that the speaker is now actively talking to a person, instead of talking about something. The trochee is intended to shift attention to the person he is talking to and about; the sudden shift in which this occurs is very important, as it occurs right before the crucial part of the sonnet. Although this only happens once, we know that it is very important, as it is at an important point in the sonnet. In the final quatrain and couplet, the speaker comes to a revelation about life, beauty, and time. The first two lines of the final quatrain are about the speaker doubting beauty, when he shares his thoughts "Then of your beauty I ask questions, / That you between the expanses of time must go", Here as the speaker equates the person to the inanimate things they were talking about that have faded over time, he begins to understand that beauty fades. The question he asks about beauty is essentially the speaker asking whether beauty matters if it fades over time. The next lines elaborate on this by stating “Since the sweets and the beauties.