Sonnet 73

In William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73” the speaker employs a series of images to express his feelings about growing old. The central images in the first, second and third quatrains are “yellow leaves”, “twilight”, and “the glowing of such fire”, respectively. These images all deal with gradual decay into death. The images are arranged in an order that suggests increasing finality, since, while the seasons change and night turns into day, the death of a fire is final. This organization contributes to the speaker’s perception of his foreboding death. At the end of the first quatrain the speaker includes the image “bare ruin’d choirs” in reference to the barren branches where birds once sang. This image represents the passing from the past to the present. The birds are no longer on the branches, signifying the transition into winter, which symbolizes death. The word “bare” connotes isolation and loneliness, two emotions the speaker alludes to throughout the sonnet. In addition to imagery, the speaker uses metaphors to convey his theme. In the sonnet “night” is compared to death and “ashes” are compared to a “death-bed.” These metaphors serve to take an abstract and hard to face idea, death, and relate it to something tangible. The speaker is trying to prepare his loved one for his imminent death and can only explain how he is feeling through metaphors. Although the speaker does not explicitly mention whom he is addressing the sonnet to, it is obvious that it is for someone the speaker loves. The speaker and his loved one both know he is growing old and will eventually die. Yet, the sonnet does not harp on only the negative. In the concluding couplet, the speaker says that his imminent death only makes his loved-ones love