Metaphors in Sonnet 73"Sonnet 73" by William Shakespeare contains many metaphors to form a descriptive image. Shakespeare used concepts, which are “imaginative extended metaphors” (567), used in the love poems of previous centuries. Shakespeare used them beautifully in “Sonnet 73”. A metaphor is a “brief, compressed comparison that speaks of one thing as if it were another” (554). Shakespeare expresses three main metaphors in this sonnet. The first is about age, the second about death, and of course, love follows. These three metaphors make for a fun poem. The first metaphor Shakespeare uses is that of a tree in autumn. He compares himself to the tree, saying, “That time of year you can see in me when the yellow leaves, or none, or few, hang on those branches that tremble against the cold.” Shakespeare compares his aging self to the aging tree. Just as the tree is losing its leaves, Shakespeare may be losing his hair. Just as the tree is becoming brittle, Shakespeare's bones are becoming old and weak. Most importantly, Shakespeare does not say that he is actually going through this fall. but that his lover perceives it in him. Another metaphor in this sonnet is the comparison between death and nightfall: "In me you see the twilight of such a day" (568). , the second self of death, which seals all rest" (568). Shakespeare perfectly describes death as the fading of a bright day into a dark and black night. The third and final metaphor is when Shakespeare compares himself to fire. Shakespeare he marvelously states: "In me you see the splendor of such a fire that lies on the ashes of his youth, as on the deathbed on which he must expire, consumed by what he has been nourished with" (568). , thus is Shakespeare dying. Shakespeare combines these three ideas in two successive lines: "This you perceive, that makes your love stronger, to love that good you must soon leave" (568). them all three objects, aging, death and love by saying that one must enjoy love when one has it because he will soon grow old and must die. He is also emphasizing that his lover is a good person to stay with him in his old age.