Shakespeare's Sonnets 12 & 73

Survey of English Literature Kachramani Filia Professor: Dr. Zengos Exam 2 Shakespeare's Sonnets 12 & 73 Time that unavoidably leads to death and decay is the main theme of Shakespeare's sonnets 12 and 73, but it is being treated differently. In the sonnet 12, the speaker addresses a young man and advises him to procreate, since as the time passes by, eventually everything dies. It is a universal theme of philosophical nature, which in the end conveys a hopeful message, …

…succeeds autumn and spring, but at the same time it is also conveyed the hope that through procreation eventually the man will be able to keep on living through his children, even if he is not alive, challenging thus death. However, in the sonnet 73, the prospect of the imminent death makes the speaker depressed and insecure, needing, now that his life is almost over, the love and support his beloved person, just before he dies.