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Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare is one of his most renowned sonnets, reflecting on aging, mortality, and the enduring power of love. Here is the full text:
Sonnet 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou seest the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
This sonnet uses vivid imagery of autumn, twilight, and a dying fire to convey the inevitability of aging and the poignancy of love in the face of mortality.