Sonnet 60 - Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore

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.

## Summary

Sonnet 60’ by William Shakespeare discusses the power of time to take life from even the most beautiful and the power of writing to fight back.

The speaker spends the majority of the poem using personification to describe time as a force that gives and then takes away. It chooses to destroy all of that which it once created. It leads even the best of nature into destruction, corrupting a pure brow with wrinkles. In the last lines, the speaker says that no matter what time tries to do his writings are going to survive forever and therefore so too will the youth’s beauty.

## Structure

The poem is composed of three quatrains, which are sets of four lines, and one couplet, which is a set of two rhyming lines. The poem has a consistent rhyme scheme, which conforms to the pattern ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Additionally, the poem is written in iambic pentameter, which means that each line has ten syllables with five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables.

The last two lines of the poem are a rhyming pair, known as a couplet, and often bring a shift or change in the poem's direction. In the case of Sonnet 12, the couplet questions the Youth's beauty.

## Figures Of Speech

* Metaphor: "the brave day sunk in hideous night" compares the end of the day to a brave warrior being defeated by a hideous foe.
* Personification: "summer's green all girded up in sheaves" personifies the green of summer as being bundled up like sheaves of wheat.
* Alliteration: "sable curls, all silvered o'er with white" and "white and bristly beard" both use repeated consonant sounds to create a musical effect.
* Metaphor: "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore" compares the passage of time to the constant movement of the ocean towards the shore.
* Personification: "crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight" personifies the obstacles and challenges faced by a person in their lifetime as fighting against their glory.
* Alliteration: "Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth" uses repeated consonant sounds to create a musical effect.

## Tone

The tone of the poem is somber and reflective. The speaker is contemplating the fleeting nature of time and how it affects everything in the world, including beauty and youth. Despite this, there is also a sense of hope in the speaker's determination to praise the subject of the poem and their worth despite the destructive power of time.

## Theme

The theme of the poem is the transience of time and the impact it has on human life and the natural world. The speaker compares the passage of time to the constant movement of the ocean towards the shore, emphasizing its relentless and inevitable nature. The poem explores how time affects different aspects of life, including youth, beauty, and nature, and how it eventually destroys everything in its path. However, the final couplet suggests that even though time is cruel, the speaker's praise for the subject of the poem will endure and remain hopeful for future generations.