# Sonnet LXIV explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The poet reflects on the destructive power of Time, observing how it erodes all physical and monumental things—from ancient towers to the shifting boundaries between land and sea. This meditation on universal decay leads to the personal realization that Time will eventually take away his beloved, a thought that fills him with sorrow and fear of loss.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Mortality

The entire sonnet is a meditation on Time's relentless destruction of all physical and monumental things, leading to the inevitable loss of the beloved.

### Beauty and Transience

The decay of towers, brass, and the shifting shorelines underscores the fleeting nature of beauty and all earthly things.

## Character check-ins

### Time

Personified as a destructive force that defaces monuments and erodes all things.

### Love

The beloved who will eventually be taken by Time, causing the poet to weep.

## Key lines

> When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defaced The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;

When I have observed how Time's cruel hand has ruined the once magnificent and expensive works of ancient times.

_The poet begins by noting Time's power to destroy even the most splendid remnants of the past._

> Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate, That Time will come and take my love away.

The sight of decay has led me to reflect that Time will eventually come and take away the person I love.

_The poet applies the universal lesson of decay to his personal fear of losing his beloved._

> This thought is as a death, which cannot choose But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

This realization feels like a death sentence, and I cannot help but weep for the beloved I am afraid to lose.

_The poet expresses the emotional torment of anticipating loss, equating it with death itself._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxiv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters