Sonnet 64

The theme of this sonnet is time conquers all. The sonnet depicts various scenes of decay due to time and the absolute truth that nothing lasts forever. Unlike the previous sonnets we have read, sonnet 64 departs from themes of love and passion and focuses on the theme of man's mortality. The line "And brass eternal slave to mortal rage" represents man's inescapable tendency to fight with and kill one another.  Sonnet 64 also talks about how nature gradually decays things over time and that too is inescapable, represented by the lines "When I have seen the hungry ocean gain Advantage on the kingdom of the shore." Near the end of the sonnet, Shakespeare ties this theme of decay back into the theme of love by saying, "Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate That Time will come and take my love away." He uses this massive metaphors that cover millions and millions of years and ties them back to a love that would last at most one human lifetime, subtly showing without saying the passion of itself. This sonnet shows that love is so powerful an emotion that it can be compared to something as massive as time or nature. The metaphor in the last line compares the fear of losing your love one day to someone who weeps that they will die one die. It makes the point that there is no reason to worry about the inevitable and by worrying it, you are only wasting more time.
   In my research, I found an interesting article on JSTOR that contained the analysis of this sonnet by over 10 literary experts. One of the more interesting analysis' was one by James R. Caldwell. He was particularly captivated by the juxtaposition of the clause "which cannot choose" and the word death. He stated that this juxtaposition suggests that death cannot choose but weep. Lover fears death, and death fears life. He writes that this personification of death is justifiable because the speaker has been dealing with forms of death such as ruin and decay.