Sonnet 104

William Shakespeare

Text

SONNET 104

'To me, fair friend, you never can be old’, known as sonnet 104, is one of the 154 sonnets written by Shakespeare and it is part of the Fair Youth sequence of sonnets that are dedicated to a beautiful young man. The main topics of the sonnet are age, beauty and the future.

Translation

Analysis

Comparison

Figure of speech

Common themes: This sonnet is similar to sonnet 18. They have common themes such as age, beauty and the future, as both the sonnets are part of the young man sequence.

Sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Sonnet 104: "Three winters cold have from the forests shook three summers’ pride, three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned In process of the seasons have I seen, three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green"

Sonnet 18: "But thy eternal summer shall not fade" Sonnet 104: "So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived"

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Source: Huffpost.com

Per me, amico mio, non sarai mai vecchio, qual eri la prima volta che incontrai il tuo sguardo, tal oggi appare la tua bellezza; tre gelidi inverni hanno scosso dagli alberi l’orgoglio di tre estati, tre leggiadre primavere avvizzite in gialli autunni ho visto nel susseguir delle stagioni, tre fragranti Aprili arsero nel fuoco di tre Giugni da quando ti vidi in fiore, giovane come ora. Ma la bellezza è come l’ombra sulla meridiana che furtiva avanza senza mostrarne il passo; così la tua freschezza, che a me par sempre ferma, ha un movimento che l’occhio mio non percepisce: se temi questo, sappi, posterità in ascolto: pria del tuo avvento già era morta l’estate di bellezza.

To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold Have from the forests shook three summers’ pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived: For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred: Ere you were born was beauty’s summer dead.

To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold Have from the forests shook three summers’ pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived: For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred: Ere you were born was beauty’s summer dead.

Figures of speech:

1) Simile2) Personification 3) Metaphor 4) Hyperbole 5) Allitteration 6) Anaphora 7) Assonance 8) Consonance

Three winters, three springs, and three summers have already passed, but the Youth's freshness persists. Moreover, the human eye has witnessed many changes in the world, but his friend's beauty did not decline. It seems that the speaker is living in a world of imagination where his friend's beauty is not going to change. The final couplet, in which he addresses the future generations, reflects on the inevitable passage of time, telling that even the most beautiful person will eventually age and pass away.

It is a fourteen-line sonnet. It is made up of three quatrains and one concluding couplet, or set of two rhyming lines. The last two lines bring with them a turn in the poem. Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, iambic pentameter. Sonnet 104 is a love poem in which the poet shows the deep affection for his friend. In this sonnet, the speaker addresses the Fair Youth, a beautiful young man. The poet talks about the Youth's eternal beauty, which remains unchanged over time.