Time Priceless

Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back. Time is something that humanity tries so very hard to understand, accept, and in some cases, ignore. This is apparent within three of the studied poems, which are; Sonnet 18, Sonnet 116 and Ecclesiastes 3. Within these three poems we see acceptance of time, yet we also see that time is the enemy, and finally that time is not all-powerful, and that it does have limitations. Time is such a central aspect in the three poems, because we fear the unknown and the fact that we don't know what it will bring, hence man's (and in this case poet's) desire to write about it, and express ones feelings.

Time within all three poems can be seen as having villain like qualities towards mankind or in other words time being the enemy. Time throughout the ages has been associated with death and destruction, and within these three selected poems it is no different. As seen in Sonnet 18, Shakespeare writes that time falls far to short in comparison to beauty and is far to poor an example to contrast love too. Shakespeare within his Sonnet, expresses a belief that love is constant and far more beautiful than a fleeting summers day that fades away, or that can be harsh; "And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:" The bible also establishes that time is something that humanity hates, cannot comprehend, and also tries to defeat; "I have seen the burden God has laid on men...He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done." In Ecclesiastes 3 the author is talking about one of the burdens God has laid on man, being time - as we find in the broader context in Ecclesiastes . It also defines time as something that humanity tries so very much to ignore, but can't as it something that "He (being God) has also set eternity in the hearts of men." Shakespeare in another of his poems (sonnet 116), states; "Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come:" From this quote we can see that he has personified time, he is also saying that love is not bound by time (Time's fool ) and that it is not effected by death (Within his bending sickle's compass come).

Time is not all powerful, despite it possessing immense power. This is because sovereign providence overrules the power of time. Where He (God) uses time to make things beautiful, as in Ecclesiastes 3 the author states; "He has made everything beautiful in its time." This quote provokes allusions which are present in most circumstances in our lives, one example being autumn, and the changing colours of the leaves. Other examples where time is seen not to be all powerful is in sonnet 18 and 116 where Shakespeare expresses times limitations on love and on written text where he states in sonnet 18

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