Textwork

At first sight

Understanding the text – line by line

What happens in each section of the sonnet? With the help of the keywords to each quatrain and the couplet, summarise what happens.

First quatrain

Keywords: growth, beautiful youth, brevity of life, stars predicting fate

When I consider everything that grows Holds in perfection but a little moment, That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

Second quatrain

Keywords: men compared to plants, growth and decay, beauty won’t last, death

When I perceive that men as plants increase, Cheered and check’d even by the selfsame sky, Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease, And wear their brave state out of memory;

Third quatrain

Keywords: unstable life/world, young is rich, time is precious

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay Sets you most rich in youth before my sight, Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay

To change your day of youth to sullied night;

The concluding couplet

Keywords: time, love and/or beauty and/or death, immortality

And all in war with Time for love of you, As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

Food for thought

On your own, come up with three possible themes for the sonnet. When you are done, take turns sharing your thoughts in small groups.

Discuss: a. Does the sonnet have a first-person or a third-person narrator? b. One example of a theme could be “time versus decay” (see example in detail in Close-up on page 23). How is that theme exemplified in the text? c. What do you consider to be the theme of the sonnet? d. What, in your opinion, is the message of “When I consider everything that grows”? What do you believe the author wants to say with this text?

Close-up

1. Form and technique a. How many lines does the sonnet have? b. How many syllables does each line have? c. What is the rhyming scheme? d. How would the sonnet be recited, following the pattern of the iambic pentameter?

What makes “When I consider everything that grows” a sonnet?

2. Literary analysis

Theme: Time versus Decay a. Find as many examples of this theme as you can – it can be words, or a whole line, or iamb, or message. b. What is the solution to the decay of time, i.e. what is the narrator’s way of keeping his friend/lover alive? i.e. | id est, which is a Latin expression meaning “that is”

This is one example of a theme that runs through the sonnet.