1 When I consider everything that grows
Whenever I observe all living things that emerge and develop, whenever I notice everything alive that comes into being and changes all life
grows then fades
2 Holds in perfection but a little moment.
Holds its perfection only for a short moment. stays perfect only for a really short time perfect
for like a second
3 That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
This huge world shows only temporary things this big world just puts on shows that don't last everything's temporary
just a show Allusion to the Globe Theatre and life-as-theatre; 'shows' = mere appearances, deceptions.
4 Whereon the stars in secret influence comment.
On which the stars secretly make their influence known. and the stars silently comment on this stars watching
influencing it all Astrological belief that planets and stars influence human fate.
5 When I perceive that men as plants increase,
When I perceive that people grow like plants, when I notice people grow the way plants do people like plants
grow then die
6 Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky:
Encouraged and held back by the same sky: helped and stopped by the exact same weather and seasons same sky
rules us all
7 Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
Show off with youthful energy, then decrease at their height, strut around with young power, then start falling apart right at the top flex then fade
at the peak Sap = vital energy; 'at height' = at their moment of greatest strength.
Wordplay: “Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease”
- 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 wear out their best state and get forgotten. and their prime just wears away until nobody remembers them forgotten
worn out
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 thinking about this constant change, then remembering how everything keeps changing everything changes
always Conceit = notion, thought; inconstant = changeable, unstable.
10 Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
It makes you appear so radiant with vitality and youth in my view, it puts you before me overflowing with energy and the brightness of being young you glow
with life
11 Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay
Where wasteful Time struggles with Decay where greedy Time fights with what falls apart time vs decay
fighting
12 To change your day of youth to sullied night,
To turn your day of youth into a dark night, to turn your bright young days into darkness youth to darkness
coming
13 And all in war with Time for love of you,
And all in war against Time for your sake, and I'm fighting Time itself for you 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 it takes from you, I regrow you new. as it steals from you, I recreate you fresh time steals
i restore you Engraft = to implant, graft, or regenerate; horticultural image of renewal.