Like as The Waves
by William
Shakespeare
(Poem & Summary)
William Shakespeare was an artist of
the Elizabethan age. This age is also known as ‘The age of Shakespeare’. The
general characteristics of the age are: -
• High
conception of poetry
• The
spirit of independence
• Varied
poetical forms: - love poetry, patriotic poems, philosophical poetry and
satirical poems.
Shakespeare was born in 1564. His age
was the golden age of songs and lyrics. He wrote plays, poems, sonnets and
essays.
Like as
the waves
(Sonnet No. 60)
Like
as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore,
So
do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each
changing place with that which goes before,
In
sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity,
once in the main of light,
Crawls
to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked
eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And
Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time
doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And
delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds
on the rarities of nature's truth,
And
nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And
yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising
thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
In the sonnet ‘Like as the waves’ the
poet gives homage to his friend, who is now no more. He talks about the
immortality of his that poetry, which praises the worth of his dear friend.
With a simile of waves, the poet tries
to say that our moments are rushing towards their end. In the next quatrain the
poet tries to prove the supremacy of the time. He further proves, that the time
is the mightiest in the nature. In the couplet he gives just the opposite
thought of that of the three quatrains. He says,
And yet to times
in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel
hand.
In the sonnet the poet proves the
immortality of his that poetry which praises the worth of his friend. He says
that as the waves rush towards the pebbled shore, similarly our time hastens
towards its end. The poet says, that in a sequent toil, all our minutes satisfy
themselves by coming into present time. The poet says, that the time of birth,
which is the time of festivity crawls to the time of maturity and is being
crowned with glory. It is the time, when adverse conditions start fighting
against its glory. He further develops the same thought in the last quatrain
and says, that the time paralyses the flourishing beauty of youth and also put
wrinkles in beauty’s brows. He says, that the time leaves nothing and nobody.
It even eats up the rarities of nature. He wants to say that the time is the
mightiest and nothing stands for his scythe to mow.
In the couplet, Shakespeare proves the
supremacy of his poetry over the mighty time, but that poetry, which sings the
worth of his dear friend, such poetry surpasses the cruel time.
The poem ‘Like as the waves’ is a
Shakespearean sonnet. It is divided into two main parts, first of three
quatrains and second of a couplet. The rhyming pattern is ab, ab, cd, cd, ef,
ef and gg. The poet takes the help of similes and imageries when he says “Like
as the waves” etc. he personifies the time, nativity, maturity and crooked
eclipses. The sonnet is full of adjectives.
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