"Sonnet 106" called as "When in the Chronicle of Wasted time" written by the greatest English poet and the "bard of avon", William Shakespeare. The poem was first published in 1609 in a quarto. This sonnet is part of the Fair Youth sequence, a series of poems that are addressed to an unknown young man. The sonnet goes on to explore the idea that the poet's verses can defy the passage of time and preserve the beauty and love of the subject for all eternity. It's a reflection on the enduring power of poetry.
Shakespeare's sonnet contains fourteen lines with Iambic Pentameter. In the first, second and third quatrain, the poem follows ABAB CDCD EFEF, and the final rhyming couplet shows GG rhyme-scheme. The poem five syllables, because it has ten feet. It also shows "Love and Loss", "Power and Corruption", "Life and Death", and "Freedom and Oppression."
Shakespeare's sonnets were granted by Thomas Thrope on the 25th of May, 1609. It appeared with the following title-page : Shake-speares sonnets: Never Printed. His initials fit to the dedication of the poem to 'Mr WH'. In the first quatrain, Shakespeare reflects on reading descriptions of the most beautiful people from the past ("fairest wights") in historical records ("chronicle of wasted time"). The description expresses love verses ("beautiful old rhyme") to immortalize deceased woman and courageous knights.
In the second quatrain, the phrase, "Blazon of sweet beauty's best" suggests that the speaker is discussing the qualities and attributes that make up the epitome of beauty. The poet refers to specific features of the person's physical appearance and beauty. The term, "Antique pen" implies that even the greatest writers and artists of the past would have struggled to capture the subject's beauty adequately. In the final line of this quatrain, He shows, "Even such a beauty as you master now" means that the person's beauty is so extraordinary that it rivals or surpasses the idealized beauty of the past.
In the last or third quatrain, the poet elicits that the praiser's glorifications is now our prediction which they have predicted. He describes these earlier poets as having "divining eyes," meaning they could foresee or anticipate the beauty that would exist in the future. He says, "we, which now behold these present days--/ Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise." This means that they can see and appreciate the beauty of their current age, but they don't have enough words or eloquence to fully describe or praise it.
Shakespeare says that during the old times, people used to write about beauty. He presents the main idea of the beauty of a young man in an anonymous setting and time. Shakespeare employs vivid imagery in describing the poets of the past as having "divining eyes." The word "worth" signifies the intrinsic value of the beauty in question. The second quatrain introduces the concept of a "blazon," a traditional poetic form that enumerates and praises the physical attributes of a beloved.
To conclude, Shakespeare's poem "When in the Chronicle of Wasted time" expresses that It is both rewarding and memorable as a sonnet, because the speaker’s emotions are so central to the human experience. The speaker, after all, desires to capture and articulate the beauty of his beloved, to convert it to words and finally do the beauty justice. It serves as a testament to the timeless nature of beauty and the enduring power of art. Ultimately, the sonnet celebrates the profound and transcendent impact of beauty on human consciousness and artistic expression.
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