Sonnet 12
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
time
mortality
nature
procreation
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
What It Means
This sonnet lists images of time passing — a clock ticking, violet leaves dying, trees stripped in autumn, summer cut by a sickle. Each image makes the same point: everything beautiful dies. The only defence against time's 'scythe' is having children. The final line is one of Shakespeare's most economical statements of the procreation case: 'save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.'
Context
Twelfth in the Procreation sequence. The clock image that opens the sonnet is one of Shakespeare's most memorable time-images across the whole sequence.
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