Sonnet · Fair Youth Sonnets

Sonnet 19

Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws,

And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;

Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,

And burn the long-liv’d phoenix, in her blood;

Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,

And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,

To the wide world and all her fading sweets;

But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:

O! carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow,

Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;

Him in thy course untainted do allow

For beauty’s pattern to succeeding men.

Yet do thy worst, old Time; despite thy wrong,

My love shall in my verse ever live young.

What it's about

The speaker grants Time dominion over the natural world—let it destroy animals, plants, beauty itself—but draws a line: don't age the beloved's beauty. The twist is that the speaker's real defence isn't immortal youth but immortality through verse. Time wins everywhere except the page.

In plain English

Time destroys everything—wear down the lion's claws, let the earth consume its creatures, strip the tiger's teeth, burn even the immortal phoenix. Do whatever you want to the world and everything beautiful in it. I won't stop you.

But there's one thing I forbid you: don't age my love's face. Don't mark his forehead with wrinkles or lines. Let him stay untouched and beautiful, a model of perfection for future generations to admire.

Go ahead and do your worst, Time. You can ruin everything else. But my love will live forever young in my poetry—that's something you can't touch.

Lines that stick

  • Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws
  • But I forbid thee one most heinous crime
  • My love shall in my verse ever live young

Themes

  • time
  • beauty
  • mortality
  • poetry as preservation
  • youth
In the app

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