1 When I consider everything that grows
When I consider everything that grows, When I look at how all living things flourish— everything grows and dies
2 Holds in perfection but a little moment.
It holds its perfection only briefly. they're beautiful only for a moment. peak beauty lasts seconds
3 That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
That this vast stage presents only appearances, this whole world is just a stage full of illusions, all illusion Allusion to the Globe Theatre and life-as-theatre; 'shows' = mere appearances, deceptions.
4 Whereon the stars in secret influence comment.
Where the stars secretly influence all that happens, where the stars watch and judge everything unseen. stars controlling everything Astrological belief that planets and stars influence human fate.
5 When I perceive that men as plants increase,
When I realize that men grow like plants— When I see that people grow just like plants, people are like plants
6 Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky:
Encouraged and hindered by the same sky, helped and harmed by the same weather, same forces nurture and kill them
7 Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
They boast in youthful vigor but decline at their peak, they brag with youthful strength but start to fade at their best moment, strongest at the moment they start dying Sap = vital energy; 'at height' = at their moment of greatest strength.
Wordplay
- boast in youthful vigor
- 'sap' as vital life-force and 'sap' as to weaken—youthful vigor both peaks and erodes simultaneously
8 And wear their brave state out of memory.
And their beauty wears away into obscurity. until nobody remembers their glory. completely forgotten
Volta The shift from observing nature's universal decay to recognizing the young man's personal crisis: 'Then the conceit of this inconstant stay' marks the moment philosophy becomes urgency.
9 Then the conceit of this inconstant stay,
Then the thought of this unstable condition— Then I think about how temporary everything is, nothing is permanent Conceit = notion, thought; inconstant = changeable, unstable.
10 Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Shows you at your richest in youth before me, makes me see how abundantly youthful you are right now— you're so rich right now
11 Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay
Where destructive Time argues with Decay where Time and Decay plot together time and decay fighting
12 To change your day of youth to sullied night,
To turn your youthful day into dark night, to turn your bright youth into dark, tarnished age. turning your light into darkness
13 And all in war with Time for love of you,
And I go to war with Time for love of you, And I fight Time itself because I love you, i'm fighting time for you
14 As he takes from you, I engraft you new. The speaker's first explicit statement of poetry's regenerative power: to preserve beauty is to 'engraft' it anew.
As Time takes from you, I graft you anew. and as Time steals from you, I regenerate you—through verse, through memory. giving you new life as time kills you Engraft = to implant, graft, or regenerate; horticultural image of renewal.