Beginning of Essay
In his Sonnet 19, Shakespeare presents the timeless theme of Time's mutability. As the lover apostrophizes Time, one might expect him to address "old Time" as inconstant, for such an epithet implies time's changeability. But inconstant also suggests capricious, an ....

Middle of Essay
.... quatrain, the lover grants to Time its own will: "And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time," acknowLedging priorly that in its fleet passage Time does "Make glad and sorry seasons. n For the first time one sees Time in other than a destructive capacity--in its cycLical change of seasons, some Time does "make glad" with blooming sweets. So the lover changes his epithet from devouring to swift-footed, certainly more neutral in tone. For now the lover makes his most assertive command: "But I forbid thee one most heinous crime. n The final quatrain finds the lover ordering Time to stay its antic "antique pen" from aging or marring his love. It is a h ....