A Close Reading of Sonnet 15

Reading Shakespeare's language is tricky, but the best way to do it at first is to go SLOW. Use the side notes to help you define difficult or arcane words and phrases. But as you read, (a) think about the metaphors--what are they helping you see; (b) look at weird syntax--why is he trying to hide a meaning in tangled speech; (c) think about what he's saying to the lover. Why would he say this? Why is this still a 'love poem'?

For example, here's my close reading of Sonnet 15, showing you how a single word or two can change the direction of the poem. These sonnets are puzzles, and they require a little 'assembly' until you get the hang of them. 

Sonnet 15 

When I consider everything that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment,

[Everything is perfect--young, powerful, strong, blossoming--just for a short space before time sets in]

That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows 

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

[Read this carefully; literally it means that the earth only reveals a drama that makes sense to the gods/the stars/the heavens. BUT look at the metaphors: "this huge stage," "shows," and "stars in secret influence comment." Shakespeare is a playwright, so he uses the world of the stage as a metaphor...but he could also mean this more literally, too. A play is just a "little moment" of perfection, that ends after 2 or 3 hours, and then everything "dies." And the stage can only present "shows" that make sense to the audience--many of whom are "stars," or aristocrats who can comment in "secret influence" on the success or failure of a play.]

When I perceive that men as plants increase,

Cheered and checked even by the selfsame sky,

Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

And wear their brave state out of memory;

[Again, this continues the metaphor that men are like plants: they grow tall, reach their zenith, and then die and are forgotten. But this also relates to the stage references above: new "men" are "cheered and checked" by the audience, but just as they make a name for themselves, they "wear their brave state out of memory," meaning they get too old and people move on and forget them. An acting career is VERY brief, even today, for most actors.]

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay

To change your day of youth to sullied night;

[Thinking about this inevitable decline, the poet appreciates anew the young man's beauty and (talent)? He's clearly at the height of his power and his fame, perhaps, even though "Time and Decay" are already plotting to take him out. Maybe he has rivals in the theater, too, which is why Time and Decay are also personified? It works beautifully both ways.]

And, all in war with Time for love of you,

As he takes from you, I engraft  you new.

[The couplet always has a little twist of meaning, and so, too, here. The poet is allying himself with the young man in two ways: one, he says that I'll always be on your side in the "war," and two, I can make your career/beauty last forever. I can "engraft you new." This goes back to the plant metaphor, since "grafting" (see note on page 48) is a way to create new life for plants. He is going to defy death for the young man by writing about him; the poet is taking the ability to cheat death onto himself. 

So this is no longer a poem saying "procreate and live forever," since the poet is now saying, "procreate WITH ME, by letting me write about you (or for you), and your fame will live forever." This ties directly into the next Sonnet 18, which says the same thing in a different way, and Sonnet 20, which makes the acting metaphor even more distinct.