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Sonnet 73, one of William Shakespeare's most famous sonnets, focuses upon the theme of old age, with each of the three quatrains encompassing a metaphor. The sonnet is pensive in tone, and although it is written to a young friend (See: Fair Youth), it is wholly introspective until the final couplet, which finally turns to the person who is addressed (the "thou" in line one). Joseph Kau suggests that Samuel Daniel had a fair amount of influence on this sonnet and that Shakespeare's immediate source of the impresa, or motto, ''"Qua me alit me extinguit"'' came from Geoffrey Whitney's ''A Choice of Emblems'' (London, 1586)〔Kau, Joseph. "Daniel's Influence on an Image in Pericles and Sonnet 73: An Impresa of Destruction." ''Shakespeare Quarterly'' 26(1975): 51-53.〕 == Analysis and synopsis == Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 mainly focuses on the use of metaphor to aid his audience in thoroughly understanding the meaning of each of the three quatrains. Richard B. Hovey utterly believes that “in Sonnet 73 the poet-narrator compares his state with three things: autumn, the passing of day, and the burning out of a fire. To each of these comparisons Shakespeare devotes a quatrain, a quatrain which develops a metaphor”.〔Richard B. Hovey, “Sonnet 73,” ''College English'' 23.8 (1962): p. 672-673 < http://www.jstor.org/stable/373787>)〕 Therefore, although believed to be one of Shakespeare’s well-known sonnets, Sonnet 73 has had numerous comments, with different perspectives on its significance, as well as its addressee. Barbara Estermann discusses William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 in relation to the beginning of the Renaissance. She argues that the speaker of Sonnet 73 is comparing himself to the universe through his transition from “the physical act of aging to his final act of dying, and then to his death”.〔Barbara Estermann, “Shakespeare’s SONNET 73,” ''Explicator'' 38.3 (2008): p. 11-12〕 Esterman clarifies that throughout the three quatrains of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, the speaker “demonstrates man’s relationship to the cosmos and the parallel properties which ultimately reveal his humanity and his link to his to the universe. Shakespeare thus compares the fading of his youth through the three elements of the universe: the fading of life, the fading of the light, and the dying of the fire”.〔Barbara Estermann, “Shakespeare’s SONNET 73,” ''Explicator'' 38.3 (2008): p. 11〕 Sonnet 73 mainly focuses on the theme of old age and its effect on human beings. Throughout this sonnet, Shakespeare’s intent is to allow his audience to observe the consequences and outcomes of old age. To properly get his point across to his readers, Shakespeare uses a variety of metaphors throughout the three quatrains to help his audience distinguish what he understands to be old age. As a result, throughout the entire sonnet the tone of his voice is in some sense negative and cold, because the thought of old age which results in death is rarely enjoyed and becomes a burden on the lives of each individual. This sonnet addresses the poet’s lover, who is believed to be a man. Throughout the poem, the poet tries to explain to his lover the difficulty of old age. Shakespeare informs his audience that old age and death both share an inevitable relationship, which each individual must experience, at one point in their lifetime. He uses the metaphor of the season of fall when he refers to the “yellow leaves,” before he emphasizes the death of winter, which is recognized, when he begins to talk about the “cold”. Hence, in this sonnet, Shakespeare’s use of metaphor puts an emphasis on the notion of death and old age. The initial quatrain of Sonnet 73 is neatly recapitulated by Seymour-Smith: “a highly compressed metaphor in which Shakespeare visualizes the ruined arches of churches, the memory of singing voices still echoing in them, and compares this with the naked boughs of early winter which he identifies himself” 〔Ed. Atkins, Carl D. ''Shakespeare’s Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary.'' Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007. pg. 197〕). The poet perceives that death occurs that “time of year” when it is dark, cold and gloomy; the time after the “yellow leaves” have disappeared, and the birds have stopped singing and have left their branches, their place of residence. Throughout the first quatrain, Shakespeare reveals that his lover is aging through his eyes comparing him to a tree without any leaves, “none, or few do hang.” As a result, his lover’s body shivers, portraying that he has lost his youth seeing as his body can no longer take the cold. In the second quatrain, Shakespeare focuses on the “twilight of such day” as death approaches throughout the nighttime. Barbara Estermann states that, “he is concerned with the change of light, from twilight to sunset to black night, revealing the last hours of life”.〔Barbara Estermann, “Shakespeare’s SONNET 73,” Explicator 38.3 (2008): p. 11.〕 Thus he believes that as the sunset fades, the dark night “doth take away” his life, which he will not be able to regain, after the “black night”. As a result, as the night approaches the individual’s youth begins to fade away and his old age leads him to the path of death. Carl D. Atkins insinuates that the final quatrain of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 is the final stage in which youth disappears forever. “As the fire goes out when the wood which has been feeding it is consumed, so is life extinguished when the strength of youth is past.”.〔Atkins 198〕 He compares the burning fire that slowly goes out to the passing away of life, as old age prevails youth. Shakespeare is concerned with the reality of death, “the fading out of life’s energy”.〔Barbara Estermann, “Shakespeare’s SONNET 73,” ''Explicator'' 38.3 (2008): p. 11.〕 He realizes that what he has “nourished” but must now “expire”. “The ashes of his youth doth lie” –the ashes of his youth burn brightly, as he recognizes that what brightened up his youth is devoured by the fire burning away his old age. As a result, Shakespeare informs his audience that we must “love more strongly,” because in the end, we are going to leave it all behind and respond to death. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sonnet 73」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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