Sonnet 12

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the word sunk in order to illustrate how the dark night engulfs the day. What Shakespeare is doing is using the words "hideous night" and "sunk" to form a catalogue of images pertaining to decay and passing time. The brave day sinks deeper and deeper as time on the clock marches on. Time is destruction. "When I behold violet past prime"(L.3), Shakespeare is again adding to his catalogue. The idea Shakespeare tries to convey is that death takes everything. The violet was once beautiful and strong but as time passes, the violet will age and become frail. Shakespeare proceeds to speak of black sable curls hiding behind white. I have two observations about this line; the first being that as a man ages he will notice more white hairs on his head. The man will lose the vibrant black curls he once had as a young man. Second, Shakespeare may be implying to the young man that his hair too will become gray.
Proceeding on to quatrain two, the poet ...

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