Question

click to read \sonnet 73\ by william shakespeare. then answer the question.

shakespeare uses which metaphor for aging in this sonnet?

a. the sunrise of a new day
b. a fire that is about to burn out
c. a bird that is singing in the trees
d. a beautiful church choir

Explanation:

Analyze the core metaphors of Sonnet 73

In "Sonnet 73" ("That time of year thou mayst in me behold"), William Shakespeare uses three central metaphors to describe his own aging and approaching death:

1. The transition of seasons (late autumn/winter, where yellow leaves hang on boughs).
2. The transition of a day (twilight/sunset fading into the black night of sleep/death).
3. The dying out of a fire (glowing embers sitting on the ashes of its youth, choked by what it was nourished by).

Evaluate the given options against the poem

• Option A (The sunrise of a new day): Incorrect. The poem uses sunset and twilight to represent aging, not sunrise.
• Option B (A fire that is about to burn out): Correct. The third quatrain explicitly compares the speaker's state to the "glowing of such fire / That on the ashes of his youth doth lie."
• Option C (A bird that is singing in the trees): Incorrect. The boughs are described as "ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang," meaning the birds are gone, symbolizing lost youth.
• Option D (A beautiful church choir): Incorrect. The "ruined choirs" refer to empty, decaying church ruins (and bare branches), not an active, beautiful choir.

Answer:

• (A) The sunrise of a new day
• (B) A fire that is about to burn out (Correct answer)
• (C) A bird that is singing in the trees
• (D) A beautiful church choir