A crucial aspect of most of the 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare is the role of a central conceit, or metaphor, upon which the poem is constructed.
Surrounding the central concept is the building up of the thought surrounding the central conceit being construed, followed by a turn that often answers the question being posed, as if the poet answers their own dilemma presented.
The early sonnets of Shakespeare are of a devoted suitor to a fellow woman, perhaps the writer’s wife Anne Hathaway herself. Marked by an earnestness and sincerity that must have shocked insecure writers afraid to express their own emotion, it’s clear these sonnets were intended to reassure a faraway bride that no matter how long he was gone, his love remained for his wife. Not that the young playwright doesn’t share his own immaturity or confusion of how women find themselves beautiful, as evident about his thoughts of a woman wearing makeup in an earlier sonnet.
The idea of an immature man earnest in his desire was a trait cherished by the medieval Engles, one that was welcome and encouraged. It’s no secret Shakespeare was a bro of sorts, writing often for a male audience who would find his early immature thoughts about women witty and hilarious (this is perhaps best related in the ending of Two Gentlemen of Verona and the entire theme running through the play The Taming of the Shrew).
But behind the bro-ish attitude was a man who was honest and mature, unafraid to explore his devotion to a woman he had been married to by the early age of 18.
Sonnet 5 begins with the concept that the woman of his affection, who was once lovingly gazed at by other suitors, who will in time be treated by tyrants who no longer find her beautiful.
As suggested in the lines: “For never resting time leads summer on / To hideous winter and confounds him there,” the point being made is that as time goes on, the tyrants will turn on this woman, her withered age being on display like liquid in a glass vase, for all to see. However, with the turn, the narrator suggests her age will be rented for others to see, while his own taste of her flower shall remain just as sweet as it was before.
Through these early Sonnets, Shakespeare is building a consistent declaration of devotion to his wife, who was far away from London in their home in Avon. No matter how others will perceive Anne, his expression is that their relationship will endure throughout time, with William boldly declaring his love to remain just the same as when they were younger.
It’s this startling devotion of the young writer that sets him apart from contemporaries. Devoted and unafraid to declare the love for his wife while undoubtedly working far away, undoubtedly tempted by the entertainment of other women the city of London afforded, it’s quite clear Shakespeare was quite the confident husband.
The Verse Universe 