Sonnet 64: When I Have Seen by Time's Fell Hand Defaced

SONNETCAST – William Shakespeare's Sonnets Recited, Revealed, Relived

​With his moving, melancholy Sonnet 64, William Shakespeare continues an ongoing meditation on time, but unlike other sonnets that have gone before or that are soon to come, he here finds no redemption in his own writing or hope in the prospect of being able to lend his lover longevity beyond his presence on the planet through poetry. The sonnet thus offers the perhaps most profoundly troubled perspective yet on the passing of time and with its sincerity paves the way for further heartfelt articulations of what it is to be William Shakespeare in a world where things go awry.