Sonnet 73 deals with the effect of time on our lives when we lose our youthful qualities and quickly progress through the aging process and finally meet death. The realization that death could place its final verdict on our lives is a scenario that we all know could take place today or tomorrow. William Shakespeare in Sonnet 73 utilizes many clever metaphors in his description of how he would feel when he finally lost his youthful qualities and his life continues to creep closer and closer to its end. .
The first metaphor in Sonnet 73 involves the season of autumn, which is used to represent Shakespeare's evolution from young to old. Shakespeare states, .
"That time of year thou mayst in me behold .
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang.
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,.
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.".
Leaves changing to yellow and falling from the trees mark the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. In these lines, the changing of seasons from autumn symbolizes Shakespeare's loss of his youthful qualities that he once held to changing into an old man waiting for his death. Bare tree limbs, stripped of any leaves can also represent his own dealing with change, where things he once had or could do are no longer there. After the season of autumn comes winter, which to many people may represent the feelings of isolation and coldness associated with that season. Isolation and coldness also can be associated to one's feelings of death in the near future.
The second metaphor in Sonnet 73 describes Shakespeare's anticipation of his own death by comparing his life to a daily occurrence. Shakespeare states,.
"In me thou see'st the twilight of such day.
As after sunset fadeth in the west;.
Which by and by black night doth take away,.
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.".
Shakespeare's fading existence after losing his youth is cleverly compared to a sunset that loses its daylight or life, giving way to complete darkness or in this example- Death.
