February 16, 2015
Although not immediately obvious, the similarities between “Sonnet 72” by William Shakespeare and the novel Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury soon become undeniable. Shakespeare’s poem expressively communicates the theme of the fear of losing the love people once had for someone as they grow older and how they wish to still be cherished despite their growing age. In Dandelion Wine, Bradbury expresses how the elderly should be respected and how their memories should be valued. This theme is showed by the “Time machine” Colonel Freeleigh, Mrs. Bentley, and Helen Loomis.The themes of “Sonnet 73” and Dandelion Wine are similar, because they both involve the remembrance of the elderly, longing for value, and the passage of time.
Both of these works of literature involve the importance of remembering the elderly. For example, in “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare discusses with the use of metaphors his own fear of being forgotten as he grows old, “In me seest the twilight of such a day, as after sunset fadeth into the west, which by and by black night doth take away.” Shakespeare is afraid that as his life fades away like a sunset, he will no longer be remembered and his memory will be snuffed out like the sunset when night falls. Likewise, Bradbury depicts the theme of remembering the elderly ,with characters such as colonel Freeleigh, who carried memories from years into the past,and when died who, would’ve taken those memories with him if not for people remembering him “And yesterday afternoon, at Colonel Freeleigh’s house, a herd of buffalo bison as big as Greentown, Illinois, went off into nothing at all.” Bradbury shows that by losing Colonel Freeleigh, they will lose a part of history they will miss greatly, but if Tom and Doug remember him and all his memories they will retain a part of history. Bradbury, similar to Shakespeare’s fear of not being remembered as he grows old, fears the loss of the elderly in a broader sense that he doesn’t want only himself to be remembered, like Shakespeare does, but wants all the elderly people to be reverently thought of even as their time on Earth ends. For Shakespeare, he wants to be remembered by his love, but for Bradbury he wants the elderly to be remembered by all.
Another part of the theme that each work of literature is people longing for value. For example, in “Sonnet 73” Shakespeare’s overall tone expresses how forlorn he is and how desperately he craves love and importance, “This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,To love that well which thou must leave ere long.” The poet, as he grows older, believes he is losing the love of the people he cared about, and is almost pleading for them to love and cherish him more in the time he has left. Likewise, in Dandelion Wine Mrs.Bentley saves everything because she thinks it will bring her the value she thinks she once possessed, Mrs.Bentley was a asave. She saves tickets, old theatre programs, bits of lace… all the tags of and tokens of existence” Mrs.Bentley, by saving bits of her past, is clinging onto the times she she had the most value. As she’s progressively gotten older,she believes her value has decreased, and she longs to be cherished as she once was. Shakespeare and Mrs. Bentley both are experiencing a want to be cherished and respected as they once were in their younger days.
Both sonnet and book involve in their themes the passage of time. For example, in “Sonnet 73” the poet repeatedly focuses on the passage of time, “That time of year thou may’st in me behold,” “In me thou see’st the twilight of such day,” and “As after sunset fadeth in the west.” To the poet, time passing is terrifying. Not only does it bring it him closer to his death, but his death to time will not matter. Time will keep on ticking. The passage of time will not notice just one person’s death.This thought makes the poet feel alarmingly insignificant. Similarly, Helen Loomis in Dandelion Wine is very much aware of the passage of time will not stop just for one person and of the little time she has left, “In a few days I will be dead,” “After it is wound, it can predict to the hour when it will stop. Old people are no different.” Like the poet, Helen Loomis is very aware of the passing of time; however, she shows no fear of her insignificance to passing time like the poet. Instead, she merely accepts that that is how life is and how it is going to be for everyone. Whether it be how inconsequential the poet feels in the broad spectrum of the passage of time or Helen Loomis’ resigned feelings towards the time passing to her end, both literature works involve the inevitability of time passing and slipping away.
Therefore, in “Sonnet 73” the poet is facing the harsh reality of feeling disparaged, of feeling infinitesimal in comparison to the bigger picture that is life, and of the possibility of being just another meaningless name in a book but not actually thought of fondly while in Dandelion Wine we characters who clasp tightly to what little meaning they have left, who even when death conquers them will be remembered for their stories of their pasts, and who accept how miniscule they are and how inescapable death is.In both works of literature, whether it be a single person or multiple people, they grapple intensely whith their own emotions and fears, and only a few can conquer them.