Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.POETRYPOETRYSonnet 12
When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silvered o’er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst^1 from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer’s green all girded^2 up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier^3 with white and bristly beard;
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,
And die as fast as they see others grow,
And nothing ’gainst Time’s scythe can make defense,
Save breed,^4 to brave him when he takes thee hence.- erst in the past; formerly.
- girded encircled or bound.
- bier (bihr) stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed.
- breed children.
510William Shakespeare
Sonnet 12
Sonnet 60
Sonnet 73
NOTES374 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PASTLIT22_SE12_U03_B1_SG.indd 374 23/03/21 12:28 PMFACILITATING
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Nouns as Verbs Direct students’ attention to
line 6, where Shakespeare uses the noun canopy
as a verb. Point out an additional example of
this practice in the poem: silver’d in line 4.
Have students discuss the effect of this usage.Challenge students to examine the other sonnets
in this selection or elsewhere and find further
examples of words used as different parts
of speech than we are accustomed to. Have
students share these findings within groups.Analyze Imagery
Circulate among groups as they conduct
their close read. Suggest that students close
read lines 7–8. Encourage them to talk about
the annotations that they mark. If needed,
provide the following support.
ANNOTATE: Have students mark the use of
figurative language in lines 7–8, or work with
small groups to have students participate
while you highlight them together.NOTICE: Guide students to consider what
these details might tell them. Ask how these
details create images in the reader’s mind, and
accept student responses.
Possible response: The harvested wheat,
standing dry in the fields with white and
bristly beard brings to mind a graying beard
on a man.
CONCLUDE: Help students to formulate
conclusions about the importance of these
details in the text. Ask why the author might
have included these details.
Possible response: These details bring alive
the author’s comparison of the seasons of
time to his own aging by creating images in
the mind of the reader.
Remind students that imagery is language
that uses images—words or phrases that
appeal to the senses of sight, hearing, touch,
taste, or smell. The term imagery is also used
more broadly to refer to figurative language
that evokes sensations. Like literal imagery,
figurative imagery appeals to the senses, but
by making imaginative comparisons to things
that may not be purely sensory.CLOSER LOOK
374 UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PAST
LIT21_TE12_U03_B1_SG.indd 374 14/04/21 2:06 PM