Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.
Verse 1: Brass, stone, earth and sea are the objects that are least vulnerable to time.
Verse 2: Flowers are so vulnerable to the forces of time and are subject to death by them.
Verse 3: The destructive force is time. Shakespeare is ravaging his thoughts about how time is such a destructive force that we need to overcome with eternal beauty.
Verse 4: Compared to the strength time has, objects like brass, stone, and seas are similar only to the strengths of a flower.
Verse 5: Summer symbolizes life itself. How can life withstand time, because at some point on the path through life it comes to an end.
Verse 6: Here Shakespeare is saying metaphorically that time is a battle.
Verse 7: When our mortality destroys the love and life we have.
Verse 8:These extended metaphors are use throughout this poem. Here he is saying that no matter how strong something is time will always destroy it at some point.
Verse 9: The future ahead is such a scary thought, and will always end in death.
Verse 10: This verse is about how time will separate two from the love they share.
Verse 11: What can hold back Time from destruction?. Nothing.
Verse 12: The reason this slide is blank is because no one can destroy beauty because no matter how old beauty is within us, and through the love we share.
Verse 13: His verses are trying to make our love immortal. The cross represents miracle and how we always need to have hope.
Verse 14: Basically through his writing his love is eternal. He believes there is something about mankind that we will resist and defeat Time with hope, and emerge victorious.
