Elizabeth Boaz

Ms. Gardner

English 10 period 0

10 September 2014

Analysis of Sonnet 65

In Sonnet 65, William Shakespeare questions the mortality of beauty, wondering how long such a

delicate thing will last in a harmful environment. He concludes the sonnet by inferring that

though beauty can be an animate object, such as a face or a flower, the beauty and power of the

written word will carry on forever. Shakespeare's use of believable personification and pleasing

euphony intensely deepens his writing and the meaning behind his words. The powerful

personification in the third quatrain, "Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid? Or what

strong hand can hold his swift foot back? Or who his spoil of beauty forbid?", asks his audience

where he can hide the beauty of his lover so it's not aged with time, where he can find someone

who is strong enough to slow down the clock, or to protect his loved one's splendor. By

personifying Time, Shakespeare creates the image that Time is an villain, swooping in to steal

the beauty of the one he loves. In the second quatrain, "O, how shall summer's honey breath hold

out", Shakespeare uses euphony to create a pleasurable tone to dramatize the line. By using the

device of euphony, Shakespeare brings a delicate yet strong attention to not only the words he's

saying, but the message conveyed within them; his lover's breath is as sweet as honey, but how

will it continue to show after the seasons change and the attacks of winter arrive? By using this

pleasing language, Shakespeare sugarcoats a sorrowful notion. Ultimately, the beauty of a face or

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the lifetime of a flower does not last forever; Time will eventually come to take it away.

However, the beauty of his poetry will shine bright through the ink, and will be recreated again

and again, never wearing out.

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