Sonnet 104
To Me, Fair Friend, you never can be old
(Shakespeare)
Line 1
“To me, fair friend, you never can be old”
• The speaker addresses a dear friend, saying
that in their eyes, the friend will never grow
old.
• Theme: Timeless beauty and perception.
• Tone: Admiring, affectionate
Line 2
“For as you were when first your eye I
eyed”
• The speaker recalls the first time he saw his friend,
implying his/her beauty has not changed.
• Wordplay: “eye I eyed” (a poetic way of saying
‘when I first looked at you’)
• Theme: Memory, constancy
Line 3
“Such seems your beauty still”
• The speaker asserts that the friend’s beauty
appeared unchanged over time.
• Theme: Perception vs Reality – beauty may
fade, but the speaker does not notice it.
Line 4
“Three winters cold”
• Introduces the passage of time – three years
have passed.
• Imagery: “winters cold” symbolizes the
changing seasons, hinting at time moving
forward.
Line 5
“Have from the forests shook three
summers’ pride,”
• Continues marking time – three summers
have come and gone.
• Methaphor: “Shook three summers’ pride”
refers to trees shedding leaves, symbolizing
natural aging.
Line 6
“Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn
turned”
• Describes the cycle of the seasons,
emphasizing change.
• Imagery: “Beauteous springs” = youth
“yellow autumn” = aging
• Theme: The natural progression of time
Line 7
“In process of the seasons have I seen”
• The speaker acknowledges witnessing the
passage of time
• Theme: Impermanence
Line 8
“Three April perfumes in three hot Junes
burned”
• Suggests that three years of fragrant spring
flowers have been burned away by summer
heat.
• Contrast: Spring (freshness, youth) vs
Summer (maturity, fading beauty)
Line 9
“Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are
green.”
• Despite these changes in nature, the speaker
insists the friend still looks youthful.
• Wordplay: “Fresh” (Youthful) and “Green”
(Lively, unaged)
Line 10
“Ah! Yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,”
• Acknowledges that beauty does fade over time, like
the hands of a clock moving slowly.
• Symbolism: The dial-hand represents gradual
change, even if unnoticed at first.
Line 11
“Steal from his figure, and no pace
perceived”
• Time steals beauty, but so slowly that
it is hard to notice.
• Personification: Time is a thief that
subtly takes away youth and beauty.
Line 12
“So your sweet hue, which me thinks still
doth stand”
• The speaker believes the friend’s beauty remains
unchanged.
• Irony: While nature changes, the speaker refuses to
acknowledge change in his friend.
Line 13
“Hath motion, and mine eye may be
deceived:”
• The speaker admits that his perception might
be wrong – beauty may actually be fading.
• Theme: Subjectivity of beauty and
perception
Line 14
“For fear of which, hear this thou age
unbred”
• Addresses future generations, warning
them about aging and beauty’s fleeting
nature.
• Tone: Cautionary
Line 15
“Ere you were born was beauty’s summer
dead.”
• Suggests that true beauty (as in the
friend’s beauty) might already be lost
before future generations exist.
• Theme: Mortality, transience of beauty.
Overall Themes and Messages
• Time and Aging: The poem explores how time passes and changes
everything, even though beauty might seem unchanged at first.
• Perception vs Reality: The speaker insists their friend has not aged, but
later questions his own perception.
• Nature as a Metaphor: The cycle of seasons symbolizes aging and the
passage of time.
• Immortality Through Poetry: Shakespeare’s words preserve the friend’s
beauty forever, even if they physically age.
Thank You!!
Ms M Bruun
Forget-Me-Not PTC