Sonnet 104 William Shakespeare

To me, fair friend, you never can be old, To me, fair friend, you never can be old, a For as you were, when first your eye I ey'd, b Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold a Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,  b Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd  c In process of the seasons have I seen,  d Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd, c Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. d Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, e Steal from his figure and no pace perceiv'd; f So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, e Hath motion and mine eye may be deceiv'd: f    For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred; g    Ere you were born, was beauty's summer dead.  g

Vocabulary Age unbred = generation still to be born ere = before Eyed = saw Beauteous = beautiful Dial-hand = referring to the face of a clock/time Steal = move slowly/unnoticed Perceived = known, noticed Hue = colour/complexion/shade Methinks = I think

Shakespearean Sonnets All sonnets have 14 lines Shakespearean sonnets Iambic pentameter – 5 unstressed/5 stressed syllables per line = total of 10 syllables 3 quatrains (dealing with a specific aspect of the poem’s overall theme), followed by a concluding rhyming couplet (that concludes or summarises the poem’s over all theme) Rhyme scheme = alternate rhyme for quatrains (abab cdcd efef) and the same for rhyming couplet (gg)

Does real beauty outlast outward appearance Does real beauty outlast outward appearance? Can real beauty truly last forever?

Stanza 1 translated 1. To me, fair friend, you never can be old, To me, my friend, you can never be old, 2. For as you were when first your eye I eyed, For as you were when we first saw each other, 3. Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold Such is your beauty still. Three cold winters 4. Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, Have shaken the splendour of three summers from the foliage,

Stanza 2 translated 5. Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd Three wonderful springs have I seen turn to autumn 6. In process of the seasons have I seen, In the course of the four seasons, 7. Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd, The perfumed scents of three Aprils burned up in three hot Junes, 8. Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Since first I saw you in all your youthful glory, and you are still young.

Stanza 3 translated 9. Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Ah! but beauty still moves forward, like the hands of a clock, 10. Steal from his figure and no pace perceived; Steal forward, with no motion to be observed. 11. So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, In this way your appearance, which seem to me unchanged, 12. Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived: Is subject to Time's movement, and my eye may be deceived:

Stanza 4 translated (The rhyming couplet) 13. For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred; Out of my fear that you will lose your looks, hear this, you unborn generations; 14. Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead. Before you came into existence beauty was already dead.

What is this poem about? The theme of Sonnet 104 is the ravages of Time. The poet uses his fond memories of first meeting his lover as inspiration to write the poem. It is clear from Sonnet 104 that the passion he/the poet/Shakespeare feels for his male lover/close friend(?) is the most intense experience of the poet's life. Nothing is important (everything in life is fleeting) but his lover; his lover is eternal, both in beauty and spirit. 

More about the poem Sonnet 104 is one of 154 sonnets written by the legendary English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It's a member of a collection of poems (The Fair Youth Sequence) in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man. The youth does not seem to have grown older at all in the three years that the poet has known him, although age has come on none-the-less. If the youth's beauty has deteriorated, no beauty has ever equalled the youth's appearance, nor will anything in the future outshine his lovely visage