Sonnets Group

Question:

jennababyy35
jennababyy35
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, what is the meaning of "Death's second self" in line 8?

Rate question:
 

Posted by jennababyy35 on Monday February 18, 2008 at 6:19 PM and tagged with meaning, quote, shakespeare, sonnet 73.


Answers:


  1. malibrarian Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    "Death's second self" refers to night, and is just a continuation of the idea began in that quatrain at line 5:

    "In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
    As after sunset fadeth in the west,
    Which by and by black night doth take away,
    Death's second self, that seals up all in rest."

    Death and sleep were rather interconnected to the Elizabethans, and Shakespeare uses that motif often in his writing (Hamlet discourses a great deal about death and sleep in his famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy).

    The speaker of the sonnet is reminding whoever he is speaking to that his looks, his body, are aging, and he is entering the twilight (darkness) of life in preparation for death.

    Check the links below for more information about the sonnets.  The link to "themes" is especially good and actually discusses sonnet 73 specifically.  Good luck! :)

    Rate answer:
     

    Posted by malibrarian on Monday February 18, 2008 at 6:25 PM

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.