An Analysis of Shakespeare’s Rhetorical Figures in Sonnet 60

徐藝藝

【Abstract】Compared with Shakespeares other sonnets like Sonnet 18 and Sonnet116， Sonnet 60 does not have such luck to attain ceaseless studies and researches， among which the studies on the rhetorical figures of the sonnet counts little. In order to assert the academic value of Sonnet 60， this paper would have an exploration on its rhetorical devices， with a hope to arouse peoples attention on this lost pearl by showing its amazing artistry.

【Key words】Shakespeare； rhetorical figures； artistry

Sonnet 60 is a typical Shakespearean poem which covers several rhetorical figures to show the longevity of Shakespeares poems though time is cruel and deconstructive. In the poets view， beauty would never fade out in verse through our endeavors. Sonnet 60 still follows the strict principle of transition， three quatrains plus a couplet which deal with the topic of time cleverly with good transition. Each quatrain is a further exploration on time to the previous one.

At first， waves are employed as a simile to depict time， because wave is a visual image with the same characteristic as time that nothing can stop it moving forward. The poet compares the passing of time to the movement of wave， with an aim to imply everyone cannot avoid being replaced by the stronger one， just as he sighs， “Each changing place with that which goes before， In sequent toil all forwards do contend.” In this quatrain， with the simile of the tide， the poet provides a visual image of the passing of time， expressing that time cannot be preserved by anybody.

Next， Shakespeare gets a further step on the depiction of the cruelty of time by the metaphor of the sun which goes through a whole day in the second quatrain where crawl and confound are a set of opposite words to carry great implied meanings. The poet vividly describes the course of life by the metaphor of the sun which would be varied during a whole day， and at the same time， the verbs are skillfully used with the first verb “crawl” which originally means an infant moves slowly on the ground， the second one “crown” to indicate the prime time of a man and while the last one “confound” which means something is defeated utterly， although they also reflect the whole course of the sun in a day. These three verbs successfully describe a man from birth to death； leaving a strong indication that time is horrible to perish everything. In addition， in this quatrain， time is also personified as a gift giver whose gifts would be returned back in one day. From this image of the gift giver， the poet seems convincingly to tell us that what we would lose anything we have owned. Thus， time has been described scarily so that nothing can escape its perishment.

In the last quatrain， the ruthlessness has been depicted to the largest extent by the personification of a monster which deprives the beauty of man violently. And beauty is also personified as a young lady， suffering time with scythe to transfix the flourish set on youth， and delve the parallels the beautys bow. The poet employs a series of opposite words to show the cruelty of time like flourish， beauty and rarity which compare with the words like transfix， delve and mow. Through these opposite words， Shakespeare successfully presents a vivid picture that a furious monster is develling the trench of beauty， devouring the rarities of the world and destroying everything with his scythe. All the efforts to describe time contribute to emphasize the theme that his verse can defeat such a ravage monster in spite of the ruthlessness of time. So the last couplet shows the poets determination against time for his verse can be immortal to preserve beauty forever.

All in all，Shakespeare manages to describe time by using concrete objects as time is no more than an abstract concept. In this sonnet， time has been depicted with three ontological metaphors （ Lakoff， 1980） which provide a vivid image of time： wave， a gift giver and devil in a progressive relation to show times cruelty and the poets resistance against it. Therefore， Shakespeare is a master of rhetoric as in Sonnet 60 where time is no more a blurry concept but a concrete and vivid image.

References：

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