Those Hours, That with Gentle Work Did Frame (Sonnet 5) by William Shakespeare (Poem, Summary & Analysis)
Those Hours, That with Gentle Work Did Frame (Sonnet 5)
by
William Shakespeare
(Poem,
Summary & Analysis)
In this sonnet Shakespeare says, that the coming
years will play havoc with the young man's beauty. He says, Human life is like
the seasons, spring, summer, autumn's maturity and enjoyment, followed by cruel
winter. Nothing is left of summer's beauty except for that which the careful
housewife preserves, the essence of roses and other flowers distilled for their
perfume. Once distilled, the substance of beauty is always preserved. Therefore,
the youth should consider how his beauty might be best distilled and preserved.
Those Hours, That with Gentle Work Did Frame
Those
hours, that with gentle work did frame
The lovely
gaze where every eye doth dwell,
Will
play the tyrants to the very same
And
that unfair which fairly doth excel;
For
never-resting time leads summer on
To
hideous winter, and confounds him there;
Sap
checked with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty
o'er-snowed and bareness everywhere:
Then
were not summer's distillation left,
A
liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty's
effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor
it, nor no remembrance what it was:
But
flowers distilled, though they with winter meet,
Leese
but their show; their substance still lives sweet.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
(Leather-bound Classics) by William Shakespeare (Author), Michael A. Cramer
(Introduction)In sonnet
5, Shakespeare warns the youth, that the time that has given him beauty, will
eventually undo his handsome and lovely characteristics. The young man, whose
qualities are very attractive—so much so that "every eye doth dwell"
upon his features—has the obligation to send on those qualities to a new
generation.
According
to Shakespeare, time has worked in perfecting the young man’s countenance; but
the same time will transform his beautiful youth into ugly, old age. The poet
then persuades the lad to marry and procreate, so that there will be a new
generation to inherit the young man’s beauty, because children often do resemble
their parents.
The
speaker then names time as "never-resting" and compares summer to
winter. He calls winter as "hideous", because the sap in the trees no
longer flow smoothly, as it is "check’d with frost." The speaker
metaphorically compares the sap in winter trees to human blood. Not only does
the sap cease flowing in the trees, but also the "lusty leaves [are] quite
gone". The "lusty leaves" represent the physical beauty of the
young man, to which so many folks have been attracted. The youth is advised to
make good use of the summer before winter leaves his blood lethargic, modifying
his pleasing qualities and rendering them barren, withered, and ugly.
In the
third quatrain, Shakespeare tells the process of converting dandelion flowers
into wine. He compares the result of summer to perfume or wine, and attempts to
demonstrate to the young man that re-creating his own likeness would be a grand
gift to the world as well as to himself.
The Complete Works Of Shakespeare (Paperback) by Shakespeare (Author, Translator)The
speaker persuades the young man to offer the gift of his offspring to the world.
He again refers the perfume/alcohol created in summer. The "flowers"
were distilled to produce the "liquid prisoner." The speaker retorts
that though the flowers gave up the beauty, their "substance" or
essence, that is, the liquid they yielded, "still lives sweet." The
speaker hopes that his persuasion will make the youth preserve his own beauty by
marrying and having beautiful children.
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