Question

Read Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73” and answer the question.

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang
In me thou sees 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.
In me thou seest the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

In the second and third stanzas, "day" and "fire" are symbols for _____.

death
life
love
eternity

Answer 1

"death"

**hint: in poetry, whenever they talk of leaves falling/autumn it is foreshadowing winter, a metaphor for death

Answer 2

Answer:

death.

Explanation:

In this sonnet written by Shakespeare, he is speaking of times and youth gone by, and the speaker reflects upon his life as it nears death, which, amongst other figures, is symbolized by day as twilight overtakes it, and by fire that, once fueled life, now becomes ashes where the speaker will make his deathbed. As the sonnet ends, the sight of all this becomes a spectacle that the loved one will behold.