nnet 5’ follows the regular structural pattern ababcdcdefefgg and is an iambic pentameter, perhaps this was on purpose to this specific sonnet as the theme is the passing of time which is to do with time being consistent, the pattern and rhythm is also ongoing throughout the entire sonnet which is in contrast to time as time is never at a stand-still; time is “never-resting”. The metaphor “time leads summer on” is a way of suggesting time is deceiving; time has been personified with a human characteristic of betrayal which defines aging as a process that we cannot control and it is inevitably the very thing leading us to death. These lines represent the seasonal metaphor as summer has a double meaning, as well as signifying the season it is also a symbolic representation of youth as is winter which represents old age. However, summer is seen as a time of enjoyment and relaxation, winter is described as “hideous”. Winter has been metaphorically personified as something that is horrible and ugly which suggests winter (old age) is being iterated from a negative standpoint. This negativity to old age is emphasised when time is accused of abandonment “confounds him there”, the notion of time leading summer on into winter is a metaphorical way of saying time is tricking summer (youth) with positive vibes only to abandon it later in winter destroying the youths prime (beauty) with ugliness (old age); he is identifying youth to beauty and old age to ugliness.

The first quatrain highlights the effect of time on beauty explaining how time will eventually catch up with the beautiful young man making him older and taking away his beauty. Beauty is introduced in the first line as an associate of youth;

Those hours that with gentle work did frame
The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell.
(Shakespeare 2010 [1609], 5.1-2)

“Those hours” emphasises the powerful force of aging and personifies time to