This Sonnet 60 summary begins at the seashore. William Shakespeare compares the minutes of our lives to waves rolling toward a pebbled beach, each one pushing the one before it toward its end. A life rises from birth to its prime, then is attacked by misfortune, and Time destroys the gifts it once gave. Time digs wrinkles in beauty and mows everything down with its scythe. Yet the speaker hopes his verse will stand and keep praising the beloved. Read the full text of Sonnet 60 on Poetry Catalog.
Sonnet 60 Summary
Lines 1–4: the waves. “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end.” Each minute takes the place of the one before, all pressing forward “In sequent toil,” one after another.
Lines 5–8: a life. “Nativity,” a newborn life, once in “the main of light,” the broad ocean of daylight, “Crawls to maturity.” Just when it is crowned in its prime, “Crooked eclipses” fight against its glory, and “Time that gave doth now his gift confound,” destroying what he gave.
Lines 9–12: Time the destroyer. Time pierces “the flourish set on youth,” the bloom of youth. He “delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,” digging wrinkles. He feeds on the rarest things in nature, “And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.”
Lines 13–14: the couplet. “And yet to times in hope, my verse shall stand,” praising the beloved’s worth “despite his cruel hand.”
Key Facts
- Poet: William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
- Published: 1609, in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
- Sequence: among the sonnets traditionally read as addressed to a young man (Sonnets 1–126)
- Form: Shakespearean (English) sonnet
- Speaker: a poet reflecting on time and mortality
- Tone: grave and urgent, ending in hope
Themes
The passing of time. The poem is relentless about time. Minutes rush like waves, life passes from birth to decline, and Time cuts everything down.
Aging and decay. Wrinkles, eclipses and the scythe show how beauty and youth are worn away.
Time as giver and destroyer. Time gives life and beauty, then takes them back. “Time that gave doth now his gift confound” captures that cruel double role.
Poetry against time. The couplet makes the familiar claim of Shakespeare’s sonnets: verse can outlast time and keep the beloved’s worth alive.
Key Lines Explained
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
The opening simile is famous. The steady rhythm of the lines imitates waves breaking one after another.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity,
“Nativity” means birth. “The main” can mean the open sea, linking back to the waves. A baby “crawls,” and the word also suggests how slowly we seem to grow.
Crooked eclipses ‘gainst his glory fight,
Eclipses were thought to bring bad luck. “Crooked” suggests something twisted and malicious. Just as a life reaches its peak, misfortune attacks.
And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,
“Delves” means digs. The “parallels” are wrinkles, parallel lines dug into a forehead, like furrows in a field.
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
Time appears as a reaper with a scythe, the figure later known as Father Time. Everything exists only to be cut down.
Form, Meter and Rhyme
Sonnet 60 is a Shakespearean sonnet: three quatrains and a couplet in iambic pentameter, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG (“shore” and “before,” “end” and “contend,” “light” and “fight”). Each quatrain develops one stage of the argument: the waves, the course of a life, and Time’s destruction. The couplet turns with “And yet.”
Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence was published with this poem as number 60, and readers have often noticed the link between its number and the sixty minutes of an hour, the subject of the opening lines.
FAQ
What is the main message of Sonnet 60?
That time moves relentlessly, destroying youth and beauty, but the poet’s verse can survive and keep the beloved’s worth alive.
What do the waves symbolize in Sonnet 60?
The minutes of our lives, constantly moving forward and replacing each other on the way to their end.
What does “delves the parallels in beauty’s brow” mean?
Time digs wrinkles into a beautiful face.
How is Time pictured in Sonnet 60?
As a person with power over everything. Time gives gifts and then destroys them, pierces youth, digs wrinkles, feeds on nature’s rarest things and carries a scythe like a reaper at harvest. Only the poet’s verse claims to resist him.
How does Sonnet 60 end?
With hope. Despite Time’s “cruel hand,” the speaker believes his verse will stand and keep praising the beloved.
What type of poem is Sonnet 60?
A Shakespearean sonnet in iambic pentameter, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.