Shakespeare Sonnet 63 Analysis, Against my love shall be as I am now

This is a short summary of Shakespeare sonnet 63. Continue reading for complete analysis and meaning in the modern text. For the complete list of 154 sonnets, check the collection of Shakespeare Sonnets with analysis. It is highly recommended to buy “The Monument” by Hank Whittemore, which is the best book on Shakespeare Sonnets.

Shakespeare Sonnet 63 (Original Text)

Against my love shall be as I am now,
With time’s injurious hand crushed and o’erworn;
When hours have drained his blood and filled his brow
With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn
Hath traveled on to age’s steepy night,
And all those beauties whereof now he’s king
Are vanishing or vanished out of sight,
Stealing away the treasure of his spring;
For such a time do I now fortify
Against confounding age’s cruel knife,
That he shall never cut from memory
My sweet love’s beauty, though my lover’s life.
His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
And they shall live, and he in them still green.
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Shakespeare Sonnet 63 Modern Text (Translation)

Shakespeare sonnet 63 Modern text translation

Shakespeare Sonnet 63 Analysis

The poet says that he anticipates the time when the fair youth will be as old as him, “Against my love shall be as I am now” when the hand of time who ages everything “Time’s injurious hand” will also make the youth look crushed and worn out with old age, “crushed and o’erworn;” when he appears feeble and lifeless “When hours have drained his blood” with wrinkles on his brow “With lines and wrinkles”

And when his youth like the morning “when his youthful morn”begins to travel into old age compared to the night “travelled on to age’s steepy night;” and all the beautiful characteristics and features that make him look like a king “all those beauties whereof now he’s king” are vanished and disappeared “Are vanishing, or vanished out of sight” stealing from him “Stealing away” the treasure of his youth, “the treasure of his spring;”

This is the time the poet is waiting in anticipation “For such a time” so as to defend himself “do I now fortify” against the cruelty of time “Against confounding age’s cruel knife” to make sure time won’t cut away the memory “he shall never cut from memory” of his love’s beauty, “My sweet love’s beauty” even if he claims the fair youth’s life “though my lover’s life:”

He says his lover the fair youth’s beauty will always be visible for all to read about in his poems “His beauty shall in these black lines be seen” and that the lines will survive “And they shall live” where the fair youth will live on in them and remain evergreen. ”and he in them still green.”