Sonnet 60 Art and Culture Quotes

In these lines, Shakespeare busts out some of his trademarked verbal trickery—and uses bad grammar to achieve an awesome poetic effect. When we first come to Line 3—"Each changing place with that which goes before,"—we think that this phrase is modifying the "minutes" described in the previous line. Once we get to Line 4, however, we realize that Line 3 could also be read as modifying "all." What does this have to do with the theme of art and culture? Well, by manipulating his language in this creative way, Shakespeare shows that human beings aren't just passive victims of nature and time. Instead, they are creative, and can use their artistic resources to depict nature—and their own thoughts and feelings—in new and interesting ways. Sure, maybe that's a stretch. But that's just the kind of stretch Big Willy would make.

These lines showcase the power of metaphor, which can magically transform part of human existence—the birth and development of a child—into something of cosmic significance: the rising of the sun.

Just as poetic language and metaphor can make the successes of humans greater, by likening them to the actions of the cosmos, so they can make human failure seem nobler. Think about it: would you rather tell your friends, "I bombed my test because I didn't study" or "the sun of my glory was crookedly eclipsed by my teacher's malicious multiple choice queries"? Case closed.

Did you know that the word culture actually comes from cultivation? Hmmmm. These lines, by drawing their metaphors from human agriculture, remind us of another way in which human art and culture transforms nature. Of course, the one doing the farming in these lines isn't a human being at all, but time. Why do you think Shakespeare chose to build in this ironic reversal of our expectations?

The ironic description of time the farmer continues, as humans find their own processes of farming and cultivation turned against them. Does this say anything about the power of human art in the broad sense—including technological development, and so on?

The last two lines of the poem bring us back to the most familiar sense of art, when the speaker refers to his verse. The speaker hopes to use art as a weapon against time and death, by preserving a memory of his beloved—and himself—for further generations. He doesn't claim that art is all-powerful—it's still under the gun of time's "cruel hand"—but at least it's something.