That time of year

"That time of year"
William Shakespeare

This was probably my favorite poem in this unit because it was so old and beautifully written.  This poem is a sonnet because it has fourteen lines and has a specific rhyme scheme.  Each line also has ten syllable and every other syllable is stressed.  The first quatrain presents the image of a tree which has lost its leaves and "shake(s) against the cold" (Shakespeare, page 966).  The second image in the poem is the twilight which has faded into the west, but the third quatrain discusses a deathbed and abandoned love.   This poem was sort of confusing because the three quatrains are squished together and are not separated into stanzas.  However, I know that it would no longer be a sonnet if its structure was different.  One of the questions asks who is the audience, and in line five, Shakespeare says "in me thou see'st the twilight of such day," and I think that he's addressing someone who has died.  In the last few lines, he talks about love, and I think that he thinks that the person who died has lost his love.  I just reread it and maybe he is the one who as lost love and has died.