SONNET XII

When I do count the clock that tells the time

 Sonnet XII
The rst seventeen sonnets express a common theme: the invitation to the “fair youth” the marry and beget children. For this reason they are
usually called the “marriage sonnets”. In this group, sonnet XII is one of the most carefully made.

When I do count the clock that tells the time, Quando conto l'orologio che dice l'ora,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night, e vedo il giorno ardito sprofondare in una notte odiosa,
When I behold the violet past prime, quando guado la viola non più in ore,
And sable curls all silvered o’er with white: e riccioli neri tutti argentati di bianco:

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, quando alberi alti vedo nudi di foglie,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd che un tempo dal calura schermava il gregge
And Summer’s green all girded up in sheaves e il verde dell'estate tutto cinto in fasci
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard: portato sulla bara con la bianca e ispida barba:

Then of thy beauty do I question make allora della tua bellezza mi vado interrogando
That thou among the wastes of time must go, che tu tra i resti del tempo devi andare,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake, dal momento le dolcezze e le bellezze smarriscono loro stesse,
And die as fast as they see others grow, e muoiono veloci come vedono gli altri crescere,

And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence e niente può o rire difesa contro la falce del Tempo,
Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence. eccetto la prole che lo s da, quando da qui ti porterà via.
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 Analysis
• Rime scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• The sonnet is divided in 3 quatrains and 2 couplets
• The word “time” is mentioned three times in the sonnet
• The alliteration "When I do count the clock that tells the time"
- literally makes you feel the action of passing time marked by
the clock
•
In lines 1-8 a number of changes in nature happen because of
the passing of time
• Example: brave day -> sunk in hideous night
• It is the rst sonnet in which he tells the events in rst person
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A When I do count the clock that tells the time,
B And see the brave day sunk in hideous night,
A When I behold the violet past prime,
B And sable curls all silvered o’er with white:
C When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
D Which erst from heat did canopy the herd
C And Summer’s green all girded up in sheaves
D Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard:
E Then of thy beauty do I question make
F
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
E Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,
F And die as fast as they see others grow,
G And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
G Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence

C This is one of the rare sonnets that allow a direct historical link,

O in this speci c case, to the time of the watch's di usion.

It is a sonnet that, like few others, visits the obsession of time

M that passes inexorably and the fear that death is, without an act
of procreation, a death without appeal.

M Time becomes the arch-enemy not only of the poet-lover but of

all mankind, threating the destruction of all the beauty and

E goodness in the word.

N
The worst rival for the poet-lover is time itself.

The only thing can “defend” us from this inevitable process is

T breeding, so that as we grow old we can be content that left

behind something.

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