One of Shakespeare's most magisterial sonnets in which he addresses ageing and mortality through sustained metaphors of autumn and nature.

It has been suggested that the bare ruined choirs of line 4 are a reference to the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. The final line is one of the classic quotes of English literature.

SHAKESPEARE - SONNET 73

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 seest 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 death-bed 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.